High Tides
by SapphireOceans
Summary: It's more than a year on from the events of the Crossing of Ingo, and there have been some big changes in Sapphire's life. But with a new sibling on the way, Conor's growing distance from the world of the Mer, Ervy's old allies on the move and Sapphy's confusing new feelings for Faro, still more changes are yet to come. It looks like Sapphire's two worlds may be set to collide…
1. Chapter One

**EDIT (17/06/13):**_**I've edited stuff again because I have Ingo withdrawal, but can't start writing the sequel yet because I still have exams and that would be a really, really bad idea concerning my future. Authors notes will largely remain unchanged because nostalgia x**_

**WARNING! CONTAINS BOOK 4 SPOILERS! DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T READ BOOK 4! Just so you know...:D**

**The cover artwork is a photograph by the amazing Elena Kalis, and you can find it at .**

**Hey guys, I hope you like this! I'm really annoyed, because I wrote the first paragraph in one notebook, which I lost (Yeah...I've got a bit of a track record...*CQ Flashback*). But, I can kinda remember it, so I'll make it up...Oh, and I can't think of a title, so if anyone has any ideas, please say! I need help! :D. Thanks for reading! I'll shut up now...**

**Dedicated to my lovely friend Rachel- who begged me not to put Mermaids in this one...**

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**_Chapter One_**

It's funny how things change. It seems that just yesterday I was a small, wild girl with a crazy mane of long hair. And now I'm sixteen. Sixteen. God, it sounds so _old_. And it's not just me changing. Mum and Roger got married last year. I used be worried about Roger taking Dads place. Now it sometimes it seems that he's completely erased him. But only sometimes. Most of the time we get on okay, and I know that Mum, for one, is hoping that when the baby's born, we'll all feel like a proper family.

The baby.

That's another change. The. Baby. Two small words paired with the rather large prominence now protruding from my mother. _My _mother. I suppose sibling rivalry is natural, but still. I don't know if it's the fact that I'm not longer going to be the youngest or if it's the fact that it's Roger's...I mean, yeah, he's cool but he's not…not Dad. Although I suppose that now Dad's truly gone, I should probably be moving on. It's just hard remembering all of those times when I begged Mum and Dad to have another baby, a little someone that I could help teach to ride a bike and how to climb down to the cove. I suppose I'm going to have that now, but it's not…the same.  
So yeah.  
I guess I don't really like change. But I suppose that other things don't change. I may be five years older, but I'm still just as wild, my hair is still crazy. I still have Conor and Mum. And someone else. I smile as I look up at the boy with the seal's tail whose warm brown hand is wrapped around mine. With a bit of luck, some things will never change.

~x~

A tendril of hair comes lose from my messy ponytail and drifts around my face, the fluttery March wind blowing it into my eyes. I bat it away as I push open the gate and shut it behind me. The Friday afternoon is warm and lazy, which is unusual for March, but then again we are in the middle of a heat wave, apparently. The garden looks really nice this year; there is a line of michaelmas daisies growing by the gate and Roger has done a really good job with the vegetable patch this year. Roger. I sigh as I push open the cottage door. If I have to have a step-dad, I'd rather it was Roger than a stranger, but it's weird to see him sitting in Dads place at the table, in Dads armchair, and even weirder to think of him sleeping next to Mum in Dads bed...Ew!

"Sapphy, you're home!"

Mum waddles towards me and gives me a hug, which is no easy feat due to the large bump full of baby sticking out of her.

"Hi Mum."

"This little blighter's been kicking again!" Mum says, smiling fondly down at her stomach. I give an uneasy smile. Again, I remember the times I used to plead with Mum and Dad to have another baby. Well, I guess now, in a roundabout way, I have my wish. But it's strange to think that the baby won't be a Trewhella. It'll be a Grayson, like Roger. And now, I suppose, Mum. Jennie Grayson, not Jennie Trewhella anymore.

Roger himself walks in from the sitting room, running a hand through his ever so slightly greying hair. "Hey Sapphire," he says, giving me a friendly smile, which I manage to return.

"Hey Roger."

He absently leans in to ruffle my hair affectionately, and blinks in surprise when he's greeted with what only can be described as a squelch.

"Hey, you're soaking! What have you been doing; swimming with your clothes on?" he asks with a jokey grin, withdrawing his now rather damp hand.

He's a little too close to the truth. I laugh nervously. My clothes have mostly dried in the sun, but my jeans are still a little damp, and the ends of my hair are dripping.

"Erm...no. I just…go a little bit wet exploring rock pools. I'll go and take a shower. Get the salt out of my hair," I babble, trying to make a swift escape. I turn and practically race upstairs, managing to knock into a small bookshelf on the landing. Cursing softly, I drop to my knees and begin to pick them up, but I freeze when I hear Roger's next words.

"She spends too much time down that cove. It's not healthy," he says in an ever so slightly worried voice.

"Oh Roger, not this again!" That's Mum speaking.

"But what does she actually _do_ down there? She's there for hours. You can't tell me that she's swimming all that time…"

"Oh, Roger! You know she loves the sea."

"I know Jennie, and so do I. But it's not…well…normal behaviour, exactly, is it? How many other sixteen year old girls do you know who spend half of their life down coves? I just feel that maybe she should be out with her friends a little bit more. I'm just worried, I guess…worried she's to secluded and not getting enough interaction with others her own age."

"She does go out some times...she has Rainbow..."

"I know, and Rainbow's a lovely, lovely girl. But I'm still worried Jennie. I mean, I know she's not my daughter, but I still care about her. And I just think she should get her head out of the clouds now and then, have some fun…"

I've heard enough. I put the last of the books back on the shelf and make my way to the bathroom, turning on the shower. I know that Roger's only looking out for me, trying to take care of me, but something about the way he's pushing his nose in just…irritates me. Gets under my skin. There's no one else I'd rather have for a stepdad, but I do wish he wasn't quite so interested in my comings and goings. I sigh, pushing wet tendrils out of my face as I roughly rub shampoo into my hair. And there's the problem that he also wants to know _what_ I'm doing down at the cove...yes, that's a bit of an issue. Because I'm technically not _in_ the cove when I say that I'm going down to the cove…  
I gulp slightly and turn the heat in the shower up a notch.  
But even the warm water pounding down over me and washing the seaweed from my hair can't wash away the cold dread of discovery tingling through my veins.

~x~

It's dinner time when I come down. I've changed and I hope that Roger doesn't notice; he's getting suspicious enough, after all. _Calm down Sapphire, you're being paranoid. You changed because you fell in the rock pool, remember? _ I slump into a chair at the table next to Conor.

"Hey there, stranger," he says, raising an eyebrow, "Where have you been all day?"

"Oh…out and about. Being at one with nature and the universe and all that…" I say, adopting a wise, sage expression.

He looks sceptical, but since Mum and Roger are in the vicinity, he doesn't bring up the matter of Ingo. "Well, if you're done 'being at one with the universe', do you think you'd like to go to Mal's eighteenth tomorrow?"

"Huh?" I reply intelligently. "I dunno. Maybe." I didn't even realise that it was Mal's birthday tomorrow. Conor's far more in touch with all the Air goings on than I am; he hardly ever comes to Ingo these days…although I suppose it must be lonelier for him now that Elvira's gone. I think, if he had his way, I wouldn't be going to Ingo either, not in term time. He's beginning to worry about my GCSE's, asking if I need any coaching or help revising…in fact, I think he's worrying more than I am. I'm trying to block them out at the moment, in the hope that if I don't think about them, they're not going to happen. I wish. But still, it's not like I've been bunking off of school to swim around in Ingo. I mainly go at the weekends, now, and after school sometimes when I don't have much homework…or can't be bothered to do my homework. But still, Ingo's not something you can easily schedule…

"Saph?"

I blink and look up at Conor. "Oh. Sorry. Zoned out."

"To absorbed with 'being at one with nature', I suppose." He rolls his eyes. "I was just saying that he said to ask if you were. He'd like you to be there."

"That was nice of him," I mumble, ever so slightly touched that Mal wanted to try and include me on Conor's behalf. He's a nice enough guy, although I still cringe with guilt every time I think about that moment I snapped at him for calling me Saph. Yeah. That was awkward. But I was only twelve at the time! We can't all be held accountable for the actions of our twelve year old selves. "I'll see if Rainbow's going. What's for dinner?"

"Spaghetti Bolognese! Justa lika my mama maka!" Roger announces in an awful Italian accent, waltzing in and setting our bowls on the table.

"Great! Thanks Roger, you do brill spaghetti!" Conor says enthusiastically, digging in.

"I didn't put any meat balls on yours Sapphire; you've got cheese instead. Is that okay?" he asks, giving me a warm smile.

"Sure, thanks Roger." I say, returning it. I turned vegetarian again last year, much to Mum's exasperation. She thought that I grew out of it aged seven.

"Jennie, dinner!" Roger calls to her, and she lumbers out of the front room.

"Get my stool please Sapphy," she gasps as she drops into her chair, "My ankles are swelling up again..."

I clamber to my feet and dart into the front room, snagging the stool from in front of the sofa.

"Thanks Sapphy. God, you get out of practise after sixteen years...maybe I'm too old for this..."

"Give over Mum, you're only thirty nine!" Conor puts in quickly.

"You still look great, Jen," Roger adds.

They give me a pointed look and I hurriedly nod enthusiastically. "Not a day over twenty five."

She waves a hand. "Flatterers..." she says, but she's smiling. "Lovely pasta, Roger," she adds, tucking in. I watch her for a moment with a fond smile. It's not just the baby that's changed Mum. After she got back from Australia, she announced that she'd found a part time course in Heath Therapy at Cornwall College. She'd always wanted to be a nurse, but couldn't because of her school grades; however, her grades were high enough for her to get onto a foundation degree program at the St Austell campus. She drives up there everyone now and then, although recently they've just been emailing her the work, due to the baby. I'm really proud of her; she's finally fulfilling her aspirations. The only problem is that she now wants me to fulfil mine. Which would be great if I knew what mine were.

I start on my own pasta, but before I can eat another forkful, Roger speaks.

"So...Sapphire. Have fun down at the cove did you?"

I nod looking down at my plate. Oh God, here we go. "Mmh."

"What did you do down there? Did you go swimming?"

"Something like that..."

"And..er...how's Rainbow?"

I eat some more pasta. "She's good."

Roger rolls his eyes at my lack of correct grammar, but lets it slide. "When was the last time you two met up?"

"Friday. I went to meet her on Porthgwidden Beach after school. And I called her this morning…" my eyes narrow. "Why?"

"Well...we-" Here Mum elbows him sharply. "Okay,_ I_ was thinking that it maybe it would be fun if you…saw a little bit more of your friends? That...you know...maybe…you should go out a little bit more?"

I play with my remaining spaghetti, twirling it around my fork. Okay. Okay. I can deal with this like a mature adult, and not get stroppy and take things the wrong way and start yelling. He is just trying to help because he cares. I take a deep breath, and look up at Roger, fixing a smile on my face.

"It's okay Roger, I'm actually going to a party tomorrow. You don't need to worry about me, really. Everything's fine."

Conor grins, almost triumphantly. "Great! I'll call Mal; he'll be thrilled!"

I roll my eyes at him and wolf down the last of my pasta. "Please may I get down now?"

Mum nods and I grab my bowl and carrying it to the sink, before racing upstairs and collapsing onto my bed. I lie there for a moment, exhaling slowly. Great. A party. With dancing. And probably alcohol. And boys. Those alien creatures. How am I going to get through this? I can't dance, I don't really drink, and I do not know how to talk to or deal with boys that aren't either related to me or that have a tail. This is going to be embarrassing. I raise my head slightly as I hear footsteps on the stairs, followed by a small rap on my bedroom door.

"I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition!" a voice calls from the landing, and I have to smile ever so slightly at the Monty Python reference.

"NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!" I call back, and Conor's grinning face pokes into the room.

"Come in you muppet," I say, rolling my eyes, and he walks in, sitting down on the bed next to me with a thump.

"So…Roger, hey?" He looks at me, his brown eyes anxious. "He seems pretty worried about you. Do you think he's going to try and find out what you're really doing down at the cove?"

"Come on, he's not that nosey. It'll be fine," I reassure him, trying to dispel the doubts in my own head.

"I hope so Saph," Conor says, still looking concerned. "I really do. If humans found out about Ingo…well. it wouldn't be good. Or he might just think he's insane. But that also wouldn't be good…"

"Conor, stop over analysing the situation. He won't find out, so just forget it, okay? I'll be careful."

"Fine…" he sighs, before a wicked gleam manifests itself in his eyes. "Moving onto a different subject…what're you going to wear to the party?"

I snatch up a pillow and begin to bludgeon him with it in reply.

"What're you doing?" he cries, raising his arms in an attempt at defence as I thump him.

"You got me into this with your whole party mess!" I wail, showing no mercy.

"OW! Gerrof! You said you'd go!"

"Only. 'Cause. Roger." I punctuate each word with a blow, "Put. Me. Under. Pressure!"

"It'll be fun-OW!"

"I hate parties!"

"It's a beach party..."

I stop. "Really?"

"That stopped you, didn't it?" He snatches the pillow off me and begins to hit _me_ with it.

"Gerrof me! Alright! I'll go! Now stop!"

"Nope." He grins annoyingly. "I don't feel like stopping. I want revenge..."

"Noooooooo!" I scream as he starts tickling me. "Gooooooood! No, please, stop!" I begin sobbing with helpless laughter. Mum bursts-well, waddles- in.

"Oh for God's sake!" she cries when she sees us. "I thought one of you were being murdered! How old are you two? No one would ever think you might be heading off to Exeter this time next year Conor..."

"Make...him..." I gasp, "Make...him...stop!"

"Honestly! You are such a pair of toddlers."

"MUM! CONOR! OFF! ME! NOW! PLEASE!" I shriek, laughing so hard that I think my head may be about to explode.

"Okay, okay! Get off of her, Conor."

He finally releases me and I lie there on the bed thankfully, gasping for breath. "I will wreak my revenge!" I cry as soon as I have enough air, waving a fist, arch-villian style.

"That's what they all say," Conor says, grinning. "Now if you're quite finished detaining me you're your villainous games, then I must depart." He turns and climbs up the ladder to his room, probably to complete some horrifically complicated Further Maths homework due in on Monday. Mum sighs, rolls her eyes and leave the room, beginning the long, difficult descent downstairs.

* * *

**Well, I hope you liked Chapter One! I know that Roger's surname isn't really 'Grayson' (which thankfully does turn out to be a surname in Australia, phew!), but I'm pretty sure that it wasn't in the books; if it was, please do tell me and I'll fix it! :D**

**Reviews would be really very welcome :D**


	2. Chapter Two

**Sorry I didn't update sooner! (I'm a terrible person, I know! But I have so much work!) The fic's now called High Tides, but I'm not sure about it, so if anyone's got any better ideas, please say! So, here's chapter two!**

**Dedicated to xgrinx, for being my first ever reviewer! (I'm working through you guys! You make my day, you really do! :))**

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**_Chapter Two_**

"Sapphire?" Roger calls as he walks into the kitchen, looking around for the familiar head of tangy dark hair.

"She's gone to the cove," Jennie replies from the other room.

"Oh, right," he says, trying not to sound disapproving. He knows it's not his place to say what her children should and shouldn't be doing, but it's hard after getting to know them over the last five years. Indeed, he almost looks on them as children of his own, or favourite nieces and nephews at least; not that he'd tell Sapphire that. He knows she's still coping with her father's death, and doesn't want to do anything to stir up any feelings of grief or resentment…he doesn't want to try and usurp a place that isn't his. But nevertheless, he still wants to have a positive relationship with her, the kind he has with Conor as a sort of friendly uncle and confidante, some kind of authority figure who can still be her friend.

"Why did you want her?" Jennie says, emerging from the living room, brushing her honey-brown hair from her eyes.

He shrugs, feeling ever so slightly embarrassed about his reasoning, like a child presenting a crayon drawing to a parent and hoping that they'll like it and see that he's trying his best. "Well, I've haven't seen her much recently, and I wanted to know if she fancied a boat trip today, before Mal's party."

"Aw, that would be lovely." Jennie beams, and he feels his own lips twisting into a big smile, still hardly able to believe she didn't run away screaming from his at the altar or something of the like. Hardly able to believe that this caring, intelligent, beautiful woman agreed to spend her life with him. "She only left a minute or so ago; I'm sure you'd be able to catch her up."

"I guess I'll just pop down to the cove and give her a shout," he says, shrugging, still smiling like an idiot.

"Do us a favour and take her inhaler down to her for me Roger? She's had that cold, and it makes her asthma play up, and you know how I worry..."

"Sure, Jen." He picks up the small blue plastic asthma pump and kisses her gently before walking out of the door. He follows the track down to the cove with brisk strides, and soon he sees her, long hair blowing in the wind before she slips down the hidden path through the brambles, bushes and nettles.

"Sapphire!" he calls, but she doesn't hear him; she just keep on walking through the waist high grass and foliage. He jogs to catch up, but isn't even halfway there before she begins to climb over the cliff edge, towards the golden stretch of sand below and out of his sightline. He picks up his speed, but his shoelace tangles around his ankle, almost tripping him. He stops to tie it, and by the time he finishes must have already reached the beach. He starts moving along the track once more, and finally reaches the greenery, following the same path she did. But by the time he walks over to the cliff edge himself, and looks around, it's too late. He blinks, hardly able to believe his eyes. She's gone.

~x~

"So where are we going Faro?" I ask, as the weak, but warm current tosses my hair around my face.

"There are some caves I wanted to show you; you can't get to them from land," Faro says loftily, idly wafting his tail, his hair floating around his face. "So very few _humans_ have visited them, only the ones with _boats _ and _diving gear_."

I roll my eyes, poking his arm. "Don't tell me; divers should not come into Ingo?"

"You read my mind," He grins, exposing his perfect white teeth. (I hate the fact his teeth are so perfect! My dentist is still saying that I might need a brace soon! So unfair!)  
"No; I just know you very well." I stick out my tongue.

He laughs, before sticking his tongue back out at me. "I know you better."

"You do not!"

"I do. For example, I know right now that you are supressing feelings of grumpiness. Tell me why you're grumpy, Sapphire."

I roll my eyes. "It's nothing. No reason."

"Is it the diver?"

"No! Well. Yes. Kind of."

His eyebrows are beginning a trek up his forehead. "No-well-yes-kind of? What a strange, nonsensical answer. Just like one of your human politicians, Sapphire." He shoots me a sly look, as if to say; 'Check me out! I probably know more about human politics than you do!'  
The sad thing is that he probably does.

"Well…it's just…Roger's a nice guy. I mean, a really nice guy. He makes my Mum happy, and now he's having a baby with her and he's nice to me and gets on really well with Conor…but…"

"But?" The teasing eyes grow unusually gentle.

"But I just…miss Dad." I can feel the tears building up in my throat, but I refuse to let them out. "It's stupid. I should have moved on. But…I don't know."

"It's not stupid." His hand brushes mine gently, and for a moment I feel a tingle of something rush through me before it's gone. "Of course you miss your father. I know what it's like to miss someone."

"How is Elvira?" I ask. I haven't seen her in over a year. Neither has Conor. In fact, come to think of it, I can't even remember the last time he went to Ingo; it's all homework and A-levels and AS results and University offers, as well as the odd party.

He shrugs dully. "Loving life in the North." He manages to force a smile. "I'm happy for her, of course."

"But you miss her."

He shrugs again before abruptly changing the subject. "You're worrying about something else, other than your father. I can tell. Don't try to hide things from me, Sapphire; I am the great mind ninja."

How the hell did Faro find out what a ninja is? I decide it's better not to ask.

"Roger's beginning to wonder what I do down at the cove." I sigh. "He's beginning to ask questions."

I feel him go very still for a moment. "Things have not been well in Ingo either." He admits after a long pause. "Some of Ervy's old followers…well, let's say they're becoming very vocal. Funny how soon people forget that dolphin and Mer blood was spilt that night, because of Ervys," He almost spits the name, his voice bitter.

I bite my lip, glancing up at him. "Ingo will heal, Faro. Eventually. One way or another."

He tries to smile, but I sense that it takes an effort. "Of course it will, Sapphire," he says finally. "It's just idiotic people like his followers that just…" he sighs. "It just feels like every time we make amove forwards, people are pushing us back."

"Faro…"

He shakes his head. "We're here. Come on, Sapphire. Let's think of lighter things." He takes my hand, and for a moment the tingle returns, a thrill of something not unlike fear rushes through me, but then it's gone, and it's just, me and Faro, pulling out of the current.

Just two friends.

"Two good friends," Faro corrects, picking up on my last thought.

"Two best friends," I say tentatively. He nods and smiles, glancing down at our wrists. I follow his gaze, and smile as well when I see our _deubleks_. Linking us together; an inseparable bond.

"Let's go," Faro says, breaking me out of my thoughts. Still holding my hand, he pulls me along towards the caves. I smile happily, not just because of our exhilarating speed. But because holding Faro's hand makes me feel like I'm home.

~x~

Roger jumps the last few feet onto the sand, and runs out into the centre of the cove. He looks around, searching in vain for a girl with long dark hair.

"Sapphire?" he calls, his heart thudding in his chest like a drum, panic beginning to rush through him. What if she's hurt? Or been washed out to sea and drowned? Worry, a sickly twisted feeling in his stomach, is growing for the girl. And for Jennie…what would her daughter's disappearance do to Jennie? She's already lost so much….But no, he mustn't think like that. He would have seen her if she'd gone into the sea, wouldn't he? She's a strong swimmer…she'd have struggled. There are no currents inside the cove either. He peers into caves and behind boulders. He searches until he is positive that there is no one there. "She must have gone back. Slipped past me," he mutters to himself as he heads back up the cliff after one final search. "She can't have just...disappeared..."

~x~

I lie on the rocks in the sun with Faro. My clothes are slowly drying out in the heat (apparently this is the hottest March since 1967) and, with a bit of luck, so will my hair, and I will be able to avoid any more awkward questions. Faro slides off the rock, into the water, to refresh his tail, before jumping back up next to me. We look up at the clouds above us, and I smile. There is nowhere else I'd rather be than here with him.

"Watch the clouds," he says, "You can see a storm being born."

"Will it rain then, Faro?" Hope leaps through me- if it does, it'll surely be too wet for the party...

"No. The wind will carry it far away. It's only young now."

I look up at the clouds in question.

"A baby storm."

"You could call it that. Now Sapphire, tell me about this party you're worrying about."

I groan. "I hate parties. Too many people. They play annoying music you have to dance to- and I can't do 'cool dancing'."

"You like the midsummer bonfires."

We're sharing memories now. "Yes, but that's different."

He nods. "Maybe it won't be as bad as you think..."

"Hmmm..."

He laughs. "Who's this 'Mal' anyway?"

"Friend of Conor's." I let an image of Mal drift into my mind.

"Does he still do that annoying accent?"

I laugh. "No, he stopped that, thankfully."

Faro grins. "Good. I can see how that would get irritating…but really, just because he called you 'Saph'?"

"I was freezing cold and half drowned! And twelve! I'm allowed to snap at people when I'm half drowned and aged twelve!"

He laughs. "I'm sure you must have been terrifying."

I stick my tongue out at him. For a moment, I wonder how many other teenagers there are right now lying side by side with one of the Mer, how many with the same blood as me and Conor, who have stumbled across gateways to hidden worlds, how many there are right now struggling to walk the thin line between Air and Ingo, Norvys and Moryow.

"More than just you and your brother," Faro says softly, glancing over at me. "Many more."

I close my eyes, sighing softly. "People keep asking me what I want to do with my life. If I want to go to University, or Medical School or whatever. Maybe I should be tracking down others like us, others with mixed blood."

He takes my hand and squeezes it. "That's going to be quite a big task, Sapphire."

"I know." I sigh softly. "But I could at least make a start? Not right now, not with exams coming up, but later, maybe? In the summer?"

He nods slowly. "It's an idea. But you're still young, Sapphire. Don't totally devote yourself to this. Not yet."

I sigh. "Okay. And yeah, I suppose it would be harder for a sixteen year old to roam the country looking for others with merblood than a twenty one year old or something."

"I'll help," he says, squeezing my hand, before winking. "I will aid you in your noble quest anyway I can."

I laugh. "Well thank you, Prince Charming." I poke his arm and he grins at me. I grin back, before I catch sight of the sun in the sky and sit bolt upright, eyes wide.

"What?" Faro asks, frowning.

"Rainbow. She's coming round to mine...What time is it?" I look around, as if hoping for a giant clock to suddenly manifest itself in the sky.

"Er..."

"In that case, I'd better be getting back." I sigh, and stand up on the rocks. "See you later Faro."

"Bye Sapphire." He grins at me and slips off the rocks into the sea. I begin to make my way back across the rocks to the beach. When I reach the cove, for a second I look back. Faro is still there, watching me go. I wave to him and he waves back, before diving back below the waves and out of sight.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed that chapter! Not sure when the next one will be up, but school finishes next week, so more writing time then! See you soon, please review!**

**Love Sapphy**

**xxx**

**P.S. Also, has anyone else noticed that there is a traumatic lack of important characters in the character list? Oh and that they spelt Conors name wrong? (How dare they? XD). So I've sent a new character list in. A very detailed one. :D! I hope it's up soon! Just thought I'd let you know!**


	3. Chapter Three

**Here's chapter three, sorry for the delay! Dedicated to three lovely reviewers; **_Jamesstarklover13_**,**_ MagicStar28_**and **_WingCommanderVinyaya_**. Thanks so much for reviewing guys! As I said before, I am working my way through all my reviewers and giving them dedications, but it's me and I don't how often I'll be updating because of school and stuff, so I'm going to do more than one reviewer a chapter, because I don't want you all to feel left out! And thanks again to Magicstar28, for the PMing sessions and all the help!**

* * *

**_Chapter Three_**

It's hot and bright outside, and it takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the cottage's cool interior. I'm suddenly hit by a mad whirl of energy and golden fur. "Sadie!" I cry as she jumps on me and licks my face like a mad thing. I drop to my knees and wrap my arms around her neck, burying my face in her soft coat. She's been doing this for a while now, ever since I went on the Crossing of Ingo. I think she's scared I'm going to leave her for that long again. "Don't you worry girl, I'm not ever going to leave you behind," I whisper, gently scrunching her ears.

"Why?" a voice says from the stairs, "Are you planning on going somewhere?"

I look up and see Roger coming down the last few steps. Oops.

"Oh...I only meant if I ever went to Uni or somewhere," I say, the lie automatically dancing off my tongue.

"I see. Where have you been?"

I look at him, puzzled by his cold tone.

"Er...down at the cove?" I say, trying to maintain a look of bewilderment to disguise the apprehension building up inside me.

"Oh really?"

I stare at him, stunned. "Er...yeah really? Where else would I have been?" I'm worried now, very worried…

"Why don't you tell me Sapphire?"

I blink. _What...? What does he know? What has he found out?_

"Stop playing games with me! I know that you weren't really down at the cove. I searched all over for you! I was really worried; the only reason I didn't tell your mother was because I didn't want to stress her out, not with the baby due so soon..."

I stand frozen with horror. He reaches out and puts his hands on my shoulders, giving me a little shake, a mixture of anger and upset in his eyes.

"Come on then; where were you?"

I flush red. "What does it have to do with you?" I pull away from him. "It's none of your business; you're not Dad!" I glimpse a cross between hurt and regret flit across his face before I turn on my heel and race upstairs, barging into my room and slamming the door behind me, flinging myself on the bed with a noise of exasperation. Why does he always have to interfere?!  
_He was really worried. _Pipes up a little voice in my head. _He must have thought that you might have drowned. No wonder he's upset. Imagine if he had to tell Mum that you were dead? _

_Shut up. _I hate the fact that that particular voice is being reasonable. _He's got no business following me around!_

_You don't know why he was looking for you_. Reasonable voice says reasonably. _He could have had a perfectly innocent reason. He's not spying on you, Sapphire._

_Shurrup._

I hear laughter from Conor's room upstairs and glower. At least _someone's_ happy. It takes another peal of laughter for me to realise that the perpetrator is female. Either that or Conor's suddenly gone through some kind of reverse-puberty. I from and look up towards the trapdoor. "Conor? Who's up there with you?"

There's a sudden hush before Rainbow's head pokes down from the ceiling. "Oh hey Sapphy! Where've you been?"

"Cove," I say, feeling guilty, "Sorry, lost track of time."

"S'okay," she says with a warm smile, agilely climbing down the ladder. Come to think of it, she's been spending an awful lot of time with Conor recently. What Grany Carne said before flashes back into my mind. Conor and Rainbow together? Well, nothing can have happened yet or she would have told me. Rainbow, unlike me, doesn't usually keep secrets from her friends. She's an open book.  
"Hey, Conor told me you're going to Mal's party tonight!"

"Oh. Yeah." I blink, snapping out of my thoughts.

"What'cha wearing then?"

I open and shut my mouth a little, probably looking like a fish out of water. The idea of clothes hadn't even occurred to me. "Dunno..."

She rolls her eyes and grins. "I thought so. Honestly, Saph, I wouldn't have been surprised if you'd have turned up naked; you're the sort of person who'd forget you were even supposed to wear clothes, let alone chose which clothes to wear."

"Oi!"

She laughs, not unkindly. "I'll give you a hand choosing. I bought you something you might look good in...we're roughly the same size…" She grabs a bag from my bed and pulls something out of it. "What do you think?"

I stare at it. "Erm...I'm not really a dressy person..."

She laughs. "I know, but come on, it's a party..."

"Rainbow, red is not really my colour..."

She laughs again, this time slightly evilly. "I thought it'd make a change from bluey-greeny-seay colours…"

"Rainbow..."

Her smile is just as wicked as her laugh. "Don't even try to argue Sapphy."

"Oh good Lord..."

~x~

Almost one and a half hours later we are ready. I have been plucked, shaved, scrubbed, moisturised and tweezed within an inch of my life. My hair has been washed and brushed and curled and sprayed and styled and pinned. I've been squirted with flowery smelling perfumes, and had a mascara wand stabbed in my eye, ("OW!" "It's your own fault for fidgeting!").

Mum, Roger and Conor have all been tactfully ignoring the pleas for help from my bedroom, along with the muffled shrieks from the bathroom. (Eyebrows _hurt_ when they get plucked! And just because shampoo is fruity and fancy doesn't mean it doesn't sting when it gets in your eyes.)

I finally skulk downstairs and hover around in the hallway, nervously fiddling with the hem of the dress, plotting the ways to punish Rainbow, even though she's been insisting that it's only for one night and that she'll never make me do it again. Speaking of the dress, she had to tactfully pad it out in certain areas, as we're not completely the same size in all the same places. It also comes to above my knees. I don't think even I've seen this much of my legs outside of the shower in a good while.

"You look fine," Rainbow says, straightening the red flower clip in my hair, beaming like a proud mother hen.

"Rainboooooow! It's a dreeeeeeess!" I wail, pouting at her, but kind of knowing I'm not going to get anywhere. "And it's shoooort!"

"Love it, Sapphy! Love the dress!" she says sternly, waggling a finger at me. I roll my eyes and swat at her. She ducks, grinning. "C'mon! It's only for one night! One night only. Just try it. If you really don't like it, I'll never make you wear a dress again. Unless it's at my wedding or something. I promise."

I hear footsteps behind us and turn to see Conor descending the stairs. He stops and stares slightly when he sees us. "Rainbow! You look amazing!" he says, looking ever so slightly star struck. "You really do! Wow! I mean…" he suddenly catches sight of me as well and breaks off, initially because he's embarrassed that I caught him being mushy, and then because he _really_ sees me. His eyes nearly pop out of his head and he has a sudden coughing fit. "Saph..." he chokes, when he's finally finished coughing. "You...you're wearing make-up..."

I scowl. "Blame Rainbow," I mutter, shooting the lady in question another death glare.

Rainbow grins, her cheeks ever so slightly pink. Mmmmhm. I'm really beginning to think that Granny Carne was right here. "Eyeliner, foundation, mascara and lipgloss. I never thought 'd see the day…and I did her hair. I feel so proud…" She wipes away a pretend tear, her blush finally subsiding.

Mum waddles in, kissing Conor's cheek. "Bye darling, have fun!" She turns, and her mouth drops open slightly, when she sees me, her face lighting up. She beams. "Sapphy, are you wearing eyeliner? And a dress! Don't you look grown-up?" She sniffs slightly, wiping at her eyes; although unlike Rainbow I don't think her tears are false. "Both my babies are so grown up…Conor doing A-Levels…you doing GCSE's…and now wearing dresses and going out to parties…"

I look down, blushing fiercely. "Okay, let's go now..." I say quickly, before the hormones completely take over and Mum has a sobbing fit whilst clutching us both to death.

Mum kisses me and Conor, still looking a little teary eyed, and waves us off as we all walk out the door and climb into the car that she and Roger bought second hand for Conor's eighteenth birthday. They didn't have enough money after the wedding to get him a good quality one for his seventeenth, so they decided it was better to wait a year and get him a vehicle which was safe and which probably wouldn't break down. Conor starts the engine and fiddles about with levers and stuff as I watch him nervously from the back seat.

"Conor, are you _sure_ you know how to drive this thing?" I'm a little apprehensive about driving with Conor. I mean, he's very responsible, and wouldn't do anything like drink and drive, and he passed his test first time, as he constantly reminds me, but still. I can't help remembering how, for a long time, he had trouble riding his bike in a straight line, and I've avoided travelling with him in the car so far, just in case.

"Saph, I'm _am_ eighteen!" he protests, looking a little miffed. "And I passed the test first time!"

"How much did you pay the examiner?"

"Hey! How dare you suggest corruption?" He looks over his shoulder and glares at me, before promptly reversing by accident and running over what sounds like a flower pot. "Whoops! That's never happened before..."

I look at Rainbow. "If the car plunges off a cliff, do you think we could make it out a window before we hit the water?"

She laughs, pushing her short blonde hair out of her face. "We could certainly try. I'll be hanging on to you for dear life as you're quite possibly the best swimmer out of the two of us…"

"Leave Conor to drown?"

"Definitely." She grins back at me.

"Well!" Conor says , frowning at us. "I guess I now know where both of your loyalties lie! But seriously, stop being so dramatic Saph! We're going to be totally fine. This car ride will be as smooth as a…smooth thing."

"As smooth as Sapphy's freshly shaved legs?" Rainbow pipes up proudly, before yelping as I kick her.

Conor laughs, and releases the clutch, before putting his foot down on the accelerator. The car jerks forwards. Rainbow and I glance at each other before simultaneously plugging in our seatbelts.

* * *

**Tra la, that was chapter three, sorry it took so long! I wrote about half and then got writers block, and coursework and stuff got in the way too, ugh, GCSE's this year! Chapter four is half written, so hopefully it should be up soon, but I can't promise anything, I'm afraid.**

**Please review, all of you reviewers are amazing people, and it's because of you guys that I get out of bed in the morning and think; ****_You know what? I'm going to type up my Ingo fic today. Screw Spanish homework!_**

**That is why I love you all! *Massive group hug***

**Sapphy**

**xxx**

**P.S. By the way guys, I wrote an Ingo songfic! It's the one called 'Sophia' and I would really appreciate if you read it. I hope you like it!**


	4. Chapter Four

**Thanks so much to the amazing Star for reviewing the last chapter! xxx**

**This one's dedicated to another three lovely reviewers: **_CityGirl13_**, **_Mbali97_** and** XxSugarMinuetxX**.**

**Thanks guys!**

**xxx**

* * *

**_Chapter Four_**

We manage to reach Porthmeor Beach in one piece, by some miracle. I jump out of the car, eager to escape what has now turned into a death trap with Conor at the wheel, and look out, over the sea.

_Sapphire..._

No. Not tonight. Tonight, it's time to be human.

We make our way from step to step along the staircase descending down the hill from the car park, and towards the road, past the _Tate St. Pirans_ art museum. We pause when we reach the metal railings that top the edge of the steep drop down towards the golden sand of Porthmeor Beach. The flickering light of a bonfire greets us.

"Hey, the guys are already down there!" Conor says, waving over to them. After a moment a figure on the beach waves back. "Come on!" Conor calls to us, before turning round and heading down the steps to beach. My dress blows around me in the breeze from the sea, and I silently pray that I won't end up exposing myself to the world. If I did, Rainbow really would have to die. Friend or no friend.

"Conor! Rainbow! Sapphire!" A shadowy figure runs towards us, and as they draw nearer I see that it's Mal.

"Hey dude!" Conor says, giving him a guy-hug. I roll my eyes. Boys. Mal grins at me over Conor's shoulder. I smile back slightly.

"Come on over!" Mal says, leading us over to the bonfire. Conor says hi to his friends, and Rainbow goes over and hugs Patrick. She looks gorgeous in an ice-blue dress-top, with white leggings, her short blonde bob spiky around the ends, and I spot more than a few guys staring at her. The bright, sunny smile lighting up her face probably helps with that. I stand back, hovering on the side lines, feeling a little lost. I only know a few people well, although I recognise a couple from the surf shop, and some more from Rainbow's band.

"Come on, Sapphire!" Mal says, appearing at my shoulder. "Have a sausage. I got veggie ones especially for you!"

I smile gratefully, glad for something to do. "Thanks Mal."

"You're welcome," he says, grinning and grabbing my hand, pulling me over to the fire. His cheeks are gradually growing redder due to the heat from the flames…although come to think of it, mine don't seem to be getting any hotter. Hm.

Josh Tregony is roasting sausages on a stick. He grins when he sees my doubtful face. "Don't worry, Mum made sure they were cooked slightly first so we don't all end up with food poisoning." He looks me up and down. "Nice dress by the way." I blush, and he grins again, winking. "Veggie?" he asks, holding out a sausage on a stick.

"Yeah," Mal replies, grabbing a plate and passing it to me. I realise he still has hold of my hand and I ease it out of his, reaching out to take the plate. For a moment, I think I see disappointment flash across his face, but only for a second. Hm.

"Thanks Mal," I say, taking the plate. Josh drops the sausage on the plate, before passing me a roll.

"Ketchup?"

"Nah, 'm fine."

"Okay then."

Mal gets a sausage for himself, before sitting down next to me. I hear a thump as someone else sits on my other side, and I see that it's Rainbow, brushing strands of hair out of her face. Conor sits next to her and after they've got their own food, we all talk for a while, about random things, about the price of surfboards and the irritating tourists and how Mal was wiped out five times the last time they went to Trebarwith Strand. All the guys laugh at him for a while, teasing him about how he came up for air with a wig of seaweed plastered to his head, whilst he protests that the only reason he fell off of his board was because of the small children who kept getting in the way. Eventually the conversation turns to the band, and the members start talking about songs they're writing, festivals they want to play at, the pubs which they're actually playing at and collaborations which they want to do.

"Come on Saph, at least do a duet with me!" Rainbow says, "It'll be fun!"

I shrug, unwilling. I don't think I'd like singing live; I'd be too scared of messing everything up. And I've always been awful at drama, despite my skills at lying, so I think my stage presence is hardly riveting.

"Oh come on! You've got a good voice! One song! Come on!"

"I dunno..."

"YEEEEEES!"

"Fine," I sigh, hoping that she'll forget about it. "I'll think about it."

"Yaaaaaaay!"

I can't help but laugh at Rainbow's enthusiasm. "Have you been drinking fizzy drinks again?"

"Erm...maybe...moving on..."

I elbow her. "No Rainbow, no! Bad girl!"

"Don't you 'bad girl' me! You're talking to me like I'm Sadie!"

I roll my eyes. "If anyone needs a 'bad girl' sometimes, it's you!"

"Rainbow? Can I have a word quickly?" Mal says suddenly.

She gets up, nodding as if she's been expecting this. "Yeah, sure."

They walk off and stand a little way away, talking animatedly. Conor and I stare at them over our shoulders, trying to listen in. "What are they saying?" I hiss at Conor.

"I don't know..." he says, but he looks slightly shifty.

"What aren't you telling me?

"Nothing."

"Oh come on..."

"Not my secret to tell"

I sigh; I know he won't give someone else's secret away. "Fair enough." I wonder if Mal likes Rainbow. As in _likes_ Rainbow. She's never said anything...anyway, I thought she liked Conor! But Conor doesn't seem like he's upset or anything…is this over something else entirely? Or maybe he doesn't like Rainbow in that way and I'm totally wrong about everything?

Someone's brought down speakers, and they plug in an iPod and a put on some music, rousing me from my thoughts.

"Come on Saph, let's dance," Conor says, pulling me to my feet, looking like he's eager to divert my thoughts away from the Rainbow and Mal thing. And his plot definitely works. My lack of stage presence extends into the dancing area.

"Nonononononono! No dancing!" I say, trying to pull my hands away, a panicked expression crossing my face.

Rainbow bounces back over to me, her conversation with Mal apparently at an end. "Yes dancing! Dance with me!" She grabs my hands, spinning around and dragging me with her.

"Agh!"

"Love the dance, Sapphy, love the dance! Embrace the dance!"

"Oh my gosh..."

-x-

After a while, the party has died down. The fire's really just down to the ember stage, glowing softly in the night. I sit next the Rainbow, in comfortable silence. Thank God she's come down off of her sugar high. I can hear the sea hissing softly in the back ground, the gentle lapping sound of water against rock making me relax. I close my eyes, resting my head on Rainbows shoulder.

"Sapphire?"

The voice makes me jump. I look up quickly and see Mal hovering there, looking slightly uncertain. "Yeah?"

He smiles at me almost nervously. Oh come on, the whole 'only Conor calls me Saph' thing was four or so years ago! I'm not going to bite his head off! "Can I...erm...well...talk to you for a...um...moment?"

"Sure..." I say, standing up, wondering what this is all about and why he looks so nervous. Maybe it's the dress? Maybe he's traumatised by the brightness of the red? Hm.

He heads away from the rest of the party, towards the sea, and I follow, barefoot, my hair blowing around my face despite the halfup hairstyle thing Rainbow did.

"Urm...Sapphire?"

"Yeah?" I reply, wondering why on earth we're so far away from everyone. He sits down on a rock slightly awkwardly and I tentatively sit next to him. What on earth is going on?

"Erm...well...you're a very nice girl right?"

Was that him trying to give me a compliment? "Erm...thank you?" I say hesitantly, not really sure what else I can say to that.

"Um...and we...we...get on well, right?"

Fairly well, I suppose. Oh yeah, apart from that time when I was twelve when I bit your head off because you called me by the nickname reserved only for my brother.

"Yes, I suppose."

He looks nervous. I wonder if he's going to ask me if Rainbow likes him or something. If he does, I'm not quite sure what to say to that. 'I have no idea, but I hope not because want her to get with my brother just in case he finds another annoyingly mysterious Mer girl to swim off with.' Yeah, that'll go down like a lead balloon.

"Sapphire?"

"Yes?" He keeps saying my name. Why? Why doesn't he just get to the point? Why doesn't he just get a move on and put me out of my misery? The suspense is killing me!

"Willyougooutwithme?"

"Huh?" I blink _whatwhatwhat!? _Maybe I just had a temporary hallucination. Of sound. A sound hallucination. Maybe he actually said something completely different which just happened to sound similar to him asking me out. Because he doesn't like me, he obviously likes Rainbow! It's obvious! They were talking together and everything! That's it, I've obviously just stepped into a strange alternate universe, where it sounds like Mal is asking me out. That's it. That's the plain and simple answer.

"Sapphire?" he's staring at me now, beginning to look a bit worried.

"Could…could you please repeat that sentence for me?" I say in a voice which only shake slightly. He gulps, but takes a deep breath and says, in a much clearer voice:

"Will you go out with me?"

* * *

**Please review guys! Reviews really, really make my day!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**xxx**


	5. Chapter Five

**Hey guys! Sorry for the long delay in updating! I have had exams and coursework and stuff . And writers block. Still, here we go!**

* * *

**_Chapter Five_**

I stare at him. "Er..."

What. What. No. This is wrong. This is weird. Mal…likes…me? A member of the male species likes me in a more-than-friends way? But…but Mal likes Rainbow! Why was he talking to Rainbow if he doesn't like her? Who in their right mind would like me more than Rainbow? Maybe he's mad? Maybe he's been hit in the head too many times by his surfboard? Because seriously. Me vs Rainbow in the romance area? Rainbow would win every time. I am on the short side and slightly scrawny. Rainbow is several inches taller than me with a much more womanly figure. My hair is a long dark mop of tangles. Rainbow has a sleek, shiny blonde bob. I wear jeans and hoodies. Rainbow wears brightly coloured leggings and denim skirts. I hardly ever involve myself in any social activity at all, apart from surfing and body boarding every now and then. Rainbow, although she avoids the water, has the band, and loads of clubs, and is just a generally all round friendly, open, social person. So why the hell would Mal want to go out with me? Me, of all people, who bit his head off and embarrassed him in front of his friends about four years ago?

"Sapphire?" Mal looks like he's beginning to regret he said anything.

Believe me, I regret him saying anything too.

"Mal...erm...you are a really nice guy. A really, really nice guy...but..." I try to think of something that is an excuse. That isn't 'It's not you, it's me!' Why was I not prepared for this? Why do they not teach us this in school? 'How to turn down boys'. Now there's a lesson I need. I do not have experience in this area!

My brain is still struggling to come up with an excuse here.

Why did I not read more Jacqueline Wilson books? Why did I only read fantasy? Can I shoot him a line from Lord of the Rings and run off quickly and hope he never sees me again? "_The Road goes ever on and on_, _Mal_…_must be off, see ya!"_

Two words.

Lead.

Balloon.

Brain still struggling.

Oh God he's doing puppy dog eyes. Sad puppy dog eyes. No! Not the eyes! Anything but puppy dog eyes! Now he's reminding me of Sadie and I want to pat him on the head. NO! Must not do that!

BRAIN GOING INTO MELTDOWN.

DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO.

WHAT DO I SAY?

WHAT DO I SAY?!

"But...I already have a boyfriend."

"What?"

_What?_

Mal looks just as shocked as I feel at hearing these words come out of my mouth.

Bad brain! That was not the answer that I wanted you to produce!

_What did you just say Sapphire? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?_

"You...you have a boyfriend?"

I feel myself nodding. My brain seems to have been taken over by a strange alien force and is acting entirely of its own accord. "Yes...sorry...we're keeping it quiet at the moment...You're a lovely, lovely guy, but...I'm sorry." I am such a bad person. Such a bad, bad person.

He nods. "I understand. Thank you for being so honest with me."

A very, very bad person. I manage to maintain a smile, despite the guilt ravaging my insides. "Thank you for asking me. It's very...flattering."

He stands up, brushing the sand off of his jeans and glancing back towards the silhouettes surrounding the bonfire. "I'd better get back to the party then. People will think I'm neglecting them..."

"Of course." The smile stays fixed on my face.

"You coming?" he says, holding out a hand, before quickly dropping it, going a little red as he remembers that I am apparently spoken for.

"I...I think I'll just stay here for a little while," I say, glancing towards the sea before looking back at him and the bonfire I can see beyond his shoulder. The smile is still glued to my lips, like the painted smile on a Barbie doll.

He looks a little put out. "Oh...okay...bye then..." He turns and walks away, back towards the fire.

I finally let the smile slip. I sigh, putting my head in my hands. What have I got myself into? _Oh God..._But the trouble is that I don't really like Mal. Not like that, anyway. I can't deny it. I feel bad for letting him down, but I can't pretend to like him to make him happy. That would be...well, somehow that would be underhand. Lying. _Of course Sapphire. Telling him that you have a boyfriend when you definitely_ don't _isn't lying at all..._

Agh!

But I don't want to hurt him by telling I don't like him...

I say again; lessons on this would be really nice. Really nice. But no. We learn about quadratic equations and sonnets instead. Well, I'd probably be just as bad at boy-lessons as I am at Maths considering that put down.

Maybe I'd have been better off with the Lord of the Rings thing?

With a heavy heart, I stand and begin to walk along the seafront, barefoot, the sea breeze blowing at my hair and whipping the skirt of the red dress around my legs, making me wish that I could just dive into the waves and be at one with the ocean. Away in Ingo, where love nor care never trouble me…

~x~

"You're very quiet Saph."

"Mm." I stare out the window, not meeting Conor's questioning gaze in the mirror.

"Saph?"

"CONOR, KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD!"

"Sorry Rainbow..."

Conor quickly returns his gaze to the tarmac stretching out in front of us, instead of turning around to look at me properly.

"I'm fine, Con," I say with a slight edge to my voice. I really do not want to be questioned about this now. Or ever. In fact, I want to forget the entire shambles all together and lock it away in the deepest, darkest corner of my mind and pretend that it never happened.

I can hear the disbelief in his voice when he answers. "Really?"

"Yes. Fine. Okay. Happy as Larry."

"Who's Larry?" Rainbow pipes up from next to me.

"It's an expression, Rainbow."

"I knew that!" she pouts. "I was making a joke."

"Oh."

The car descends into an awkward silence. Conor taps his fingers lightly on the steering wheel as he drives along the narrow winding road up the hill, the sound almost deafening in the stillness. Rainbow begins to hum. Simultaneously, everyone, except the driving Conor, turns to look at her.

"Are you humming the Beatles?" Patrick says from the passenger seat.

"Do you have a problem with the Beatles?" Rainbow asks her brother, raising her eyebrows. He shakes his head quickly. Rainbow can be ever so slightly scary when she's like this. And by 'like this', I mean when she has consumed sugar.

"No. No problem at all," he says, looking a little anxious.

"Good."

Conor stops the car outside of Rainbow and Patricks house. "See you two around then."

"Thanks for the lift Conor," Patrick says, opening the car door and shutting it quietly after him, as River is asleep inside.

"Yeah, thanks," Rainbow adds, smiling sunnily at Conor before hugging me. "See you Sapphy." She goes to climb out, before hesitating. "Actually, Sapphy, do you want to meet up tomorrow?" she asks, giving me a significant look. I'm not quite sure what the look is for, but the eyebrow raised with it makes me feel slightly nervous. As if she knows something that I don't know she knows. Oh no.

"Umm..." I reply, unsure what tactics to use here. Does she know what I now think she knows that I didn't think she knew?

"There's this place which does amazing ice-cream! It's pretty new, I don't think you've been to it; it only opened a little while ago!"

"Um..." Is she trying to bribe me with promises of delicious ice-cream?

"See you there at eleven then!"

Well it looks like she's succeeded, despite the fact I appear to have said nothing except 'Umm' through the entire conversation. I sigh. "Okay then. What's it called?"

"The Moo Maid of Zennor Ice-Cream parlour," she says, grinning. "I thought of you the moment I saw it."

I catch Conor's eye in the mirror and we simultaneously burst out laughing.

* * *

**Okay, so I knoooooow this chapter is ABYSMALLY short. You can shoot me. I don't mind. Well actually I do...:S (EDIT 25/08/12: Extended it now, mwhahaha! :P)**

**I blame whoever wrote out the plot and chapter outline for this story. That was the person who dictated what content should go in each chapter...oh yeah, that was me...XD.**

**Nah, in seriousness, I have been EVILLY neglecting this story, and so many lovely, lovely people have reviewed, and I wanted to put something up...you are ALL amazing! Thank you so much, I actually do a little dance every time I get a review. I am being serious. I actually do. You can ask my family. XD**

**Anyway, is it just me, or is Rainbow slowly going a bit bonkers (i.e, turning into me...:S)? Ah well...XD.**

**Thank you again for reviewing!**

**Next chapter should be up soon to make up for the fact that this was disgustingly short!**

**Lot's of love,**

**Sapphire**

**P.S Shameless self-advertising; I have got an Ingo groupy thing on deviantArt, if anyone wants to join, and have recently put up a truck load of Ingo related art :D. If you want to see, search for SapphireLovesTheSea and you'll find me :D Thank you guys!**

**xxx**


	6. Chapter Six

**Hey everyone! I'm sooo sorry! I know I said I'd update, but school got in the way again...mainly in the form of the dreaded exams...They are big. They are bad. There are 18 of them. I'm expected to get A* in all of them. They are the reason why I'm doing 5-6 hours of revision a day. They are...GCSE's! Aiiiiiieeee!**

**They are horrible. And they're the reason why there have been no updates. For ages. My mum really doesn't help. This is the woman who basically told me I was a failure if I didn't get into Oxbridge. Buuuuuurn! Okay, rambling over, down to business.**

**Firstly, to everyone who has reviewed: THANK YOU SO MUCH!**

**Also, to people who are worried I may give up on this story, I say this now: I have never on my life given up on a story, and refuse to give up on any story in the future. I may not update for a while, I may put it on hiatus, I may cry and bitch about if I get writers block, but I will NOT give up on it. Especially if I get loads of reviews (hint hint...*wink*).  
(This excludes one of my Hunger Games fanfics. But that thing was BAD. Ugh. Just...Mary Sues, everywhere. Ew. No. I can't continue that. Let's just not talk about that. It shames me too much. *A single tear is shed*.)**

**Thank you to everyone who has read this and I really hope you enjoy what is to come! I'm actually writing this authors note at 5 to 11 at night, so the chapter will hopefully get fully written tomorrow, during my free period. Which is meant for I.T revision, but meh. See? That is how much I love you all. I hope you enjoy and PLEASE keep reviewing!**

**Also, on the subject of review dedications, I have now made a list of people who I have not given dedications too yet, and am working through it slowly...if I mention you by a old user name, then it's because I wrote the list before you changed it :D.**

**Also, I'd like to say an absolutely MASSIVE thank you to Darling Summers, Mbali97 and ayamey22, who all reviewed BOTH of my new Ingo fics; a one shot called Time To Fly and a sing-fic called Memories. Thank you so much guys, you are awesome!**

**I shall also be putting up another one-shot soon, a Mapphire (as I have christened Mal/Sapphy) fic. It can't go up yet though, because the online Cornish dictionary I use (yes I speak a little Cornish :D) is currently in the process of being updated, so therefore I can't use it help me translate stuff into Cornish (aka Mer :D)**

**Also, this chapter has a double barrelled dedication, because I forgot to add in my dedication for the last chapter in my last update! Sorry!**

**Dedicated to: **_LollyMau, FlyHigher, nightwatchman707 _**AND**_ 12345, SPLASH & TheLiningIsSilver._

**You guys totally rock!**

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**_Chapter Six_**

I catch the bus into St Pirans along with Sadie and make my way towards the ice cream parlour. It's on the a street called Back Lane, right by St Pirans harbour. I pause, staring out over the sea for a moment, listening to the soft _hush_ of the waves and the screech of the seagulls overhead, my eyes roaming over the various fishing and sailing boats before climbing the steps. Sadie follows me on to the terrace, where I loop her lead around one of the railings next to the bowls of water put out for dogs by the owner. She begins to lap thirstily as I head inside. Rainbow is sitting at the long counter stretching along the wall, dressed in her trademark pair of rainbow tights and an embroidered jean skirt, waiting for me.

"Hey Sapphy!" she says, bouncing up when she sees me and hugging me. I hug her back, unable to shake the image of a rainbow coloured dog bouncing up to greet me; although of course, if Rainbow was going to be any animal, that's what she'd be. Maybe not rainbow coloured, but a dog all the same. Loyal, trustworthy, faithful and enthusiastic, that's her. Just like Sadie.

"Hey Rainbow," I say, smiling and taking a seat next to her, looking round curiously. She's right; I haven't been in here before, which is unsurprising considering how much time I've been spending in Ingo lately. My eyes come to rest on the sign on the wall, and I can't hold back a grin.

_NOBODY CAN RESIST A MOOMAID._

_LEGEND HAS IT THAT A YOUNG CORNISHMAN WAS LURED INTO THE SEA BY THE BEAUTY OF THE MERMAID OF ZENNOR._

_TODAY YOU'RE MORE LIKELY TO BE SEDUCED BY DAISY, PRIMROSE AND SID VICIOUS - JUST THREE OF THE COWS THAT HELP MAKE TREMEDDA FARM'S ICE CREAM._

_THEY ARE THE LEGENDARY MOOMAIDS OF ZENNOR._

I have got to tell Faro about this place. He will be known to me as the Moomaid of Zennor from now on.

The shop is very white, with butterscotch yellow panelling underneath the counter. The floor is black slate and there are metal tables and chairs outside on the patio. I bet it's heaving in the summer, especially with all the tourists.

"Come on Sapphy; ice-cream time!" Rainbow grabs a menu eagerly. I am more hesitant.

"Rainbow...ice-cream has sugar in...Are you sure-"

"Yes!" she says earnestly, her eyes ever so slightly crazy. How much sugar did she have last night?

I stare at her for a moment. "...You can be very scary sometimes..."

"Oh shurrup! Let's get some ice-cream! What do you want?"

I stare at the list and my jaw drops. "...How many flavours are there?"

"Over 30." She said, grinning.

"Okay...any Chocolate and Pecan?" A sudden memory drifts back to me.

_I am eleven and I have my hands clamped over my ears, trying to block out the roar of the sea. _Chocolate and pecan ice cream, spag bol..._The sea roars louder though, drowning out everything else..._

"Sapphy?"

Rainbow's voice breaks the spell. "Huh?"

"Come on, wake up, dreamy! You want Belgium Chocolate?"

"Yeah...yeah sure..."

She grins and orders, and soon our ice-cream arrives in butterscotch yellow cardboard tubs, with a picture of a...well...what can only be described as half cow half fish on the front. I'd love to see Faro's face if I showed him one of these...

"So what were you thinking about, dreamy?" Rainbow asks, sitting down again. I join her.

"Oh, you know. Stuff."

"_Stuff_."

I glance up at her. "Huh?" Oh no. Here it comes. She knows what I thought she didn't know.

"So...er...not a particular someone?"

I try to look innocently clueless. "What?"

"Not...er...your mystery boyfriend?"

_Ah crap. She does know._

"Who told you I had a boyfriend?" I say calmly, trying to keep my face impassive.

"Well...Mal may have mentioned it." She looks at me with reproachful eyes. "You never told me! I felt like an idiot!"

I sigh, and decide to just tell the truth for once. "Rainbow, I don't have a boyfriend."

Now it's her turn to look bewildered. "Then why did Mal say you said you did?"

I frown. "Why have you been talking to Mal so much?" Since it's obvious now that it's not because he _likes_ you…

She flushes. "Weeeeell..."

"Yes?" Blushing? Maybe he does like her? Maybe she likes him? Oh no! Oh no! Please don't like him! I can't deal with a love triangle right now!

"There may be a _slight_ chance that Conor and I have been trying to set you two up..."

"WHAT?!" Oh no. Oh _hell_ no. They did not. Heads are going to roll.

"You'd be cute together! And he really likes you!" Oh great, what is this, a trip to guilt mountain?

"So whatever I say you are going to take back to Mal?" I say, trying to remain calm. The attempt is not succeeding.

"Not everything! Just bits…"

This explains a lot. Like Rainbow giving me a makeover. And Rainbow talking to Mal. And the secret Conor was keeping. And no one batting an eyelid when Mal whisked me away to what it seems was supposed to be a _romantic setting_. They. Set. Me. Up. Both of them. I was TWEEZED for this!

"AGH!" I stab my ice-cream with my scoop. "Rainbow Peterson, I swear..."

"Don't hurt me!"

"HURT YOU? I'LL FLIPPING KILL YOU!"

"HELP ME, MAD GIRL WITH AN ICE-CREAM SCOOP!"

~x~

We decide to leave the shop after the strange looks we're getting and end up walking along the harbour towards Porthgwidden Beach. St Pirans has four main beaches; Porthmeor where we had the party last night, Porthgwidden , the smallest, which is tucked away in a gap in the headland, the Harbour, which the ice-cream parlour opens out onto, and Porthminster, which is the furthest away from St Senara and is the last beach before Carbis Bay. I used to dislike the town; it seemed too crowded after the wide open fields and cliff tops of St Senara, but now I'm spending slightly more time here it's beginning to grow on me. The winding streets are full of tourists in the height of the summer season, but they're emptier at this time of year, and although you get the usual chains of shops, now and then you get an interesting place. I'm not a big fan of shopping, but whenever Rainbow manages to drag me out of the sea my preferred places of purchase would have to be Kudos, a little independent shop that sells absolutely amazing nature styled jewellery, amongst many other things; in fact, the whole shop is just insane. There are potted plants, bonsai trees and the like outside it, and loads of wind chimes hanging in the doorway. You duck inside, and there are cases of jewellery around, set with precious and semiprecious stones, all colour coordinated, and surrounded by every object imaginable. Old guitars, chairs, tables, hangings, globes, notebooks, ukuleles, binoculars, a miners lantern, a revolver…there's even more upstairs. Once you've made it past the African cravings and ornate mirrors on the stairs, you enter into a room full of vintage teddy bears, Russian military coats, more musical instruments, baskets of shells, ceiling hangings, an old metal divers helmet, telescopes, geodes, glass balls, fishing nets…it's crazy. And I love it.

The other shop I like is the Shell Shop, which is actually just by the ice-cream parlour. The lampshade on my bedroom light is from there; strings of tinkling blue circles of shells dangling around the light bulb and casting a blue light on the wall. It makes the room look like it's underwater. That's why I like it.

"So this boy then..." Rainbow says as we walk along the cobbled streets towards Porthgwidden, Sadies's lead in my hand. "What's he like?"

"Rainbow, I told you, I don't have a boyfriend!"

"I know, I know! But I can tell that you like _someone._"

I flush, although I'm not sure why.

"See? I am your best friend, I pick these things up!"

"Shurrup Rainbow!"

"Aha! So there is someone!"

"No there's not!"

"Tell me about him! Teeeeeeeell me!"

"Fine." I sigh and try to make something up to make her shut up. Farewell to my policy of not lying.

"What is his hair like?"

I say the first thing that comes into my head. "Dark. Longish and dark."

"Oooh, is he a surfer? Does he like the water?"

"He loves the water."

"Like you! Oooh, good match! Eyes?"

"Green. Bright green."

We arrive on the beach and I let Sadie off of her lead, pulling her ball out my bag and throwing it for her. She runs for it eagerly, bounding over the sand to claim it.

"Body? Is he a muscle man?"

"Rainbow!"

"What? I'm contributing to the conversation!"

I sigh softly. "Yes, he's strong. And...and tanned." Sadie returns, and I bend down, wrestling with her for a moment in a struggle for the ball before she releases it and stands there, poised, her tail wagging.

"How old is he?"

I throw the ball back over the sand and she bounds off again happily, her ears flapping in the wind.

"Older than us. Around Conor's age."

"An older man, huh? Nice..."

I can't help laughing at her enthusiasm, but when I look at her, her own face is rather gentle.

"You really like him, don't you?" she says softly.

I look away quickly and duck my head, mumbling something unintelligible. Sadie returns again, giving me an excuse to avoid her gaze as I crouch down again and murmur words of praise, ruffling Sadie's fur with one hand as I try to extract the ball with the other.

"I can tell Saph. What's his name?" she says, trying to coax it out of me.

"Not saying. You'll probably try and match-make us," I grumble and I rub Sadie's tummy.

"Why?" she looks eager, "Do I know him?"

"No you don't!"

"Awww..." when I finally glance up, I can see the disappointment on her face.

"Promise me now Rainbow. No more matchmaking."

"Saaaaaaaapphy..."

"Promise."

"Okay. I promise."

"And no more tweezing."

"Humph. Fine. No more tweezing." I offer her the ball and she takes it, throwing it for Sadie who races off again, her tongue hanging out of her mouth. "But if I see any cute tanned boys with green eyes, dark hair around Conor's age, I will stalk them."

"Riiiiight...have fun doing that Rainbow," I say, really hoping that she's joking.

She laughs sinisterly, and I grin, although I'm privately wondering to myself why I've just given her a description of a certain dark haired, green eyed someone who just so happens to have a tail…

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed! I won't take up any more of your time, especially after the MONSTER of a A/N at the beginning...:S, but it would be amazing if some of you could review. Also, once my exams are over I'm going to sing a cover of ****_O Peggy Gordon_**** and put it on my YouTube channel (SapphireLovesTheSea). I wanted to accompany this cover with some Ingo-related fan art. If any of you have done or would like to do some fan art that you're okay with me using in the video (you'll be credited :D), than please send me a link! My DeviantArt user name is SapphireLovesTheSea (again ;D), or you can PM on here or on YouTube :D Thank you!**

**Sapphire**

**Xxx**

**P.S. If there is excess art, then I may use it in my cover of ****_The Parting Glass_**** :D**

**P.P.S. I'm sooo sorry if the spelling and grammar in this chapter was a bit off; I'm exhausted from exams and have a killer headache...I've proof read a couple of times but have probably missed a load of stuff...I'll probably go back a remedy it later though...**

**P.P.P.S. The Moomaid of Zennor ice-cream parlour really does exist! It's amazing! I went there on my Ingo Pilgrimage. The description of St Pirans is from what I can remember about St Ives, the town St Pirans is based on. If some details are a little off, I'm sorry; the last time I went there was almost two years ago...**


	7. Chapter Seven

***Skulks in* Hi. Um. Yes.**

**I'm soooooooooooooooooooo sorry! I've just been so busy with A-Levels and recording and filming music videos that my fics have been abandoned because I'm a bad lazy person! To make up for it, I'll try and stop being so lazy and will:**

**Update more!**

**And**

**Try and hunt down an old, unfinished Ingo oneshot and complete it and post it for you guys because I love you**

**Right. So. Onwaaaaaaaaaaaards! Wait. What did I do with my chapter plan? Where is my chapter plan? Oh poo, now I'm going to have to wing it…so….ONWARDS WITH IMPROVISATION!**

**And the reviewers this chapter is dedicated to are: **MaryandMerlin, elviracar128** and **whirlindervishes**. Thanks so much guys!**

* * *

**_Chapter Seven_**

The sun is sinking as Rainbow and I reach the bus stop on the road overlooking Porthminster Beach, Sadie walking along next to us.

"Oh come on!" I say, sitting down on the wall and shifting awkwardly, trying to find a comfortable place on the flint stones that make it up, whilst Sadie curls up on the ground at my feet. "You've interrogated me all day about my supposed boyfriend. Now you have to tell me; is there anyone you like?"

Rainbow rolls her eyes, shaking her head, strands of her blonde hair blowing around her face. "No. There's no one I like," she says, but she says it far too quickly.

"Aha! You said that far too quickly! Tell me everything!" I say, leaning closer, my eyes narrowed. Let the interrogation begin.

"Never! I will never confess!" she says, folding her arms and turning her head away, her nose in the air.

I slowly raise an eyebrow. "I've told you everything! I have bared my soul to you, Rainbow Peterson! I let you use tweezers on my face and put gloopy stuff in my hair. Now it is time I extracted my revenge."

She pouts and swivels on the wall, turning her back on me.

"Oh come on Rainbow! You can't not tell me!" My curiosity is getting the better of me now; whereas before my questioning was playful, now I'm serious. "Come on Rainbow, you know you can tell me anything!"

"I know…" She sighs and turns back to me. "Okay, if you promise never to tell anyone. Not a living a soul. You swear?"

I nod, my eyes earnest. "I promise. Even though you totally betrayed me with this whole setting me up with Mal thing." _And tweezed me_. I won't forget or forgive that.

She swats at me, but she's smiling. "Okay…and you promise not to be cross with me?"

"Yes! Why would I be cross with you?" I lean forwards eagerly as she takes a deep breath. Please be what I hope you're going to say…come on…please be what I hope you're going to say…

"Because….Ireallyfancyyourbrother."

For a moment, I can hardly believe it. "What? Conor?" _No, Sapphire, Mordowrgi. What brother do you think she means? _

She nods, her face going the same shade as a tomato.

"You…you fancy Conor? You honestly fancy Conor." Thank you. Thank you so much! Yes! Granny Carne is officially the matchmaker of Zennor!

She nods again, looking slightly perplexed at my reaction, as if she's not sure whether it's positive or negative.

I start to laugh with relief. "Rainbow…"

"What? _What_? Why are you laughing? _Why are you laughing_?!"

I manage to control myself. "It's just….you looked so scared to tell me…you guys are perfect together! I've been hoping that you'd start going out for aaaaaages!"

"Really? You're not mad?" she says, blinking her big grey-blue eyes, beginning to look a little calmer than before.

I laugh even harder. "Why would I be mad, you idiot? You're my best friend! There's no one I was rather with my brother than you!" _Because unlike some dark haired, mysterious girls I could mention, you're probably not going whisk him away from me._

She smiles happily, hugging me. "Yay! Really?"

I hug her back, still giggling. "Yes! Please go out with him, please go out with him!"

"No! You can't tell him!" Her face is suddenly horrified. "You promised to never tell a living soul!"

"Okay!" I pull away, pouting slightly. "I won't tell him you like him. I promise."

She looks relieved, letting out a deep breath.

"Buuuut…you should tell him yourself."

She jerks, looking at me with horrified eyes. "What? No! What if he rejects me!?"

"Why would he? You're gorgeous and lovely and sunny and bubbly and he likes you!"

"But probably not in the way I want him too!" she wails. "He probably thinks I'm just his little sisters' friend!"

"He does not! He's always talking about you!" I say, folding my arms. "And laughing with you and having a good time."

She perks up. "Really? He does? He talks about me? What does he say?"

I roll my eyes. "Oh just nice stuff about how great you are."

She beams. "He says that?"

"Uh…yeah! He thinks you're great. He's always saying I should hang out with you more," I reply, nodding. Which is true, actually. I'm straying back into the land of truth telling. Let's hope the truth will wash out the lies.

She grips my arm. "Sapphy, I have a task for you, my ninja."

"Um…since when was I a ninja?" I'm slightly inclined to believe that Rainbow has been communicating with Faro now…

"You just are. Okay, your task is to find out _subtly_ if Conor likes me. Please note the _subtle _part, okay?"

Her grip on my arm is kind of cutting off my circulation now…I try to gently pull away, but she clings on. I roll my eyes. "Okay, okay, I'll be subtle."

"Good!" The bus draws up to the stop, and she gives me a hug and Sadie a pat on the head. "I'll see you soon, ninja child."

I laugh and pull out my purse as the doors open. "Aye aye, Captain Rainbow."

I climb on and pay, Sadie following me, before finding a seat and sit down, Sadie curling up at my feet once more. I wave at her through the window as the 508 pulls away, beginning its climb through the twisting and turning streets. I rest my head against the glass, sighing softly as it travels along its climb up to the top of the hill, before making its way inland, passing through farms and a couple of small towns before returning to the cliff road and winding its way towards Senara. I stare out over the Atlantic, watching the sheen of the setting sun dance on the waves, going back over the conversation in my mind and wondering to myself how _I_ of all people am going to be _subtle_…

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**Please review! Hope you liked it! I'm so sorry it's short; this is originally half of the chapter I was going to put up, but I went down the improv route and ended up with this, which was meant to be a lot shorter and...never mind, I'll get everything up eventually :) I'll try and update soon! xxx**


	8. Chapter Eight

**Hallo all :D. Sorry for the last chapters shortness; it was originally half of this chapter…oh dear, now I think this chappie will be really short D:. I'm writing this instead of reading my new book (Tempest Rising by Tracy Deebs; it's about mermaids :DDDD); that's how much I love you.**

**Also, news on Ingo-ness; on my 'Ingo to-do' list I have a several things, namely:**

**Update High Tides (which I'm doing now :DDD)**

**Update the much neglected 'Songs of Moryow' once I find my flipping plan!**

**Find the oneshot I promised you and type it up and finish it (I'll tell you now, it's called Truth or Dare. Expect fluff. ;))**

**Write my Mathew oneshot, which will be titled something like 'The Ones We Leave Behind'.**

**Write the Gloria Swanson based fic which I have been considering for the past year and which I still haven't got around to doing. It's going to be called 'Talking to Seals', I think . I think it'll be a oneshot, but am considering a multi-chapter**

**Find pictures for my 'O Peggy Gordan' cover and upload that to YouTube (If you've done pictures you don't mind being included in the video, please send me a link! If it doesn't work on fanfiction, my email address is on my profile**

**Complete my Conor songfic 'Worth Remembering' to Memories by Beverly Craven.**

**Thank you once more to you AMAAAAAAZING reviewers; you rock socks! Whoop! And onwaaaaaaards with the chapter!**

**Dedicated to: **La, Inkheart17 **and **annabeth.

* * *

**_Chapter Eight_**

The wind is starting to pick up as I walk up the garden path; the michaelmas daisies that Roger's planted sway violently in the gale, and I clutch Sadie's lead tighter. The air is cold, much colder than it's been recently; it seems that the heat wave is over and an older cousin of the storm that Faro and I saw being born has come to visit. I step in through the front door and shut it behind me firmly, unclipping Sadie's lead and trying to block out the rising tempest and the voices which echo on the blustery gusts of wind.

_Ssssssssssssapphire…._

_Leave me alone! I don't have the time right now!_ I snap back impatiently. Mum'll notice if I disappear now; I can hear her and Roger in the front room, watching Sunday afternoon telly and laughing at a game show. Their cosy, warm, secure normality is a million miles away from the dark, wild, seductive dangers of the sea.

_Sssssssssssssssssapphire…_

_Stop it!_ I press my back up against the door, shutting my eyes tightly, as if I can somehow block the voice out. I think I can hear barking in the distance. _Leave me alone just for once!_ _Stop-_

"Saph?"

I open my eyes. Conor is looking down at me with concern. I realised I'm crouching on the floor, my hands clamped over my ears, my body still pressed up against the door. Sadie is whimpering next to me, her paws on my knees, her brown eyes full of fear.

"Saph, are you okay?"

I stand up slowly, nodding, scrunching Sadies' ears comfortingly. She stays close to me, practically glued to my leg, whining softly, her entire body shaking.

"Is it calling to you?" Conor says in a lower voice, looking worried. "Is it bad?"

I nod again and he hugs me tightly. I breathe in his familiar earthy smell and the call of the sea recedes, like the tide going out, pulling at me as it goes.

"It's gone," I finally murmur into his shirt, and he lets go of me. Sadie's pressed up against me again, but she's no longer trembling.

"You look white as a ghost," he says, looking anxious. "Has it ever done that before?"

"It hasn't been that strong for a while," I reply, sighing and pushing my hair out of my eyes.

"Here." He guides me into the kitchen and sits me down on a chair, before grabbing the milk out the fridge and beginning to make hot chocolate. I watch him, still trembling slightly. Sadie come and sits on my feet like a furry hot water bottle, nuzzling my leg softly. She gently licks the hand I reach down with to stroke her. Conor sticks the two mugs in the microwave before coming over to sit opposite me.

"So."

"So?"

"You and Mal?"

I feel myself flush to the roots of my hair. "What about me and Mal?"

"Well…he asked for permission to ask you out."

"Oh." Oh indeed. I'd forgotten until now that Rainbow said she'd been collaborating with Conor on this whole matchmaking thing.

The microwave beeps. Conor gets to his feet and rescues the two cups and set one in front of me, before passing me a spoon and getting one for himself.

"So?"

I sip my hot chocolate and manage to burn my lip. I give it a good stir. "So _what_?"

"So….you turned him down."

I stare down into the chocolatey swirls of my drink, stroking Sadies' head gently. "Yeah."

"He said you said you have a boyfriend." He seems slightly edgy. "Anyone I know?"

"No, b-"

"Saph! I'm not having you go around with a boy I don't know!"

"I'm not-"

"Not what? You're my little sister; I'm meant to look after you!"

"**_I do not have a boyfriend Conor you total dolt!_**"

Sadie jumps slightly and I hastily start stroking her again, to reassure her that everything's alright.

"Oh." He goes silent for a moment looking embarrassed.

"I just told Mal that was why I couldn't go out with him because I didn't want to hurt his feelings!"

"Oh. Wait, what?" Conor frowns. "You lied to him? Why didn't you just tell him the truth?" Oh here we go again, Conor's honestly policy. Okay, I may find it easier to tell the odd lie now and again, but I'm not _that_ bad a person (except in the Mal case, but hey, I was just trying not to hurt his feelings)! But when I have a brother like Conor, who's kind and generous and honest…well I feel like a bad person. He makes me feel guilty. Not on purpose, but just through his sheer…goodness.

"Because I have verbal diarrhoea!" I snap, trying very hard not to let the guilty feelings rise to the surface, but to squash them down instead. "I just said the first thing that popped into my head!" Well, the first thing that popped into my head that wasn't completely insane.

"Saph, why didn't you just go out with him? He's crazy about you, and I trust him!"

"Because, Conor, I don't like him in that way!"

"Well okay, fair enough, but you still didn't have to lie to him, did you?"

"But I didn't want to hurt him by saying I didn't like him!"

"He was going to be hurt anyway by you saying that you had a boyfriend, wasn't he?" He frowns suddenly. "This isn't about Faro, is it?"

"_Faro_? What's Faro got to do with anything?" I say, surprised.

"Saph, you don't…you don't _like _ Faro, do you? I mean, he refers to you as his little sister, he obviously doesn't feel the same way, and I don't want you to get hurt…"

"_He doesn't call me little sister anymore_!" I don't know why I feel so mad, but Conor's words just seem to get under my skin. "And I do not _like_ Faro! He's my friend!"

He sighs, looking exasperated. "Then why tell Mal that there's someone else and hurt him more? Why not explain the situation truthfully? That's better than lying, isn't it? Saph, how can you be so _blind_ when it comes to stuff like this? You know, romantic stuff? He really likes you, and by not telling him the truth, you're just doing more harm than good!"

The heat rises in my face again, but this time it stems from anger rather than embarrassment. "_I'm_ blind?" I slam down the mug of hot chocolate so hard that the liquid spills over the edge of the porcelain, spattering the table with dark droplets. The deep brown on the yellow table cloth almost looks like spots of dried blood. "_I'm_ blind?" I stand up, almost knocking over my chair. "I really don't think I'm the one who's blind in the matters of 'romance' here, Conor!"

Sadie barks and tries to follows me as I turn and dash out of the front door, but I slam the door before she can make it outside. I ignore her pitiful whining and I dash out wildly into the building storm and towards the ebb and hiss of the sea that I know better than my own heartbeat.

~x~

The wind whips through my hair, howling in my ears like a banshee's scream. I duck my head against the cold, hard drops of rain which are beginning to pelt down from the sky and soak through my jacket. I'm soon drenched and chilled to the bone, but I refuse to turn back. My anger burns inside me too brightly for that. _How dare Conor try and order me what to do?_

_He cares about you._ Murmurs that second voice in my head, the one that often comes to Roger's aid. _He cares about you._

_Oh shut up!_

I keep walking along the cliff top, with no idea which direction I'm walking in, listening to the sea crashing into the rocks below, the roar like a far off lullaby. There's a low rumble of thunder in the distance and a flickering of lightning in the clouds, and I suddenly realised just how exposed I am up here, with no shelter. I turn to head back towards the cottage and the warm glow of home and safety, when something hits me in the head, sending a sharp stab of pain through me; something wet trickles down my forehead. I stumble, and my ankle twists on a rock; my arms windmill helplessly for a moment before the thing hits me again, and this time I see it's a seagull, its vicious yellow eyes glaring at me with acid animosity. The gulls second attack makes me lose my balance entirely and with an electric thrill of horror, I realise that I'm falling.

My stomach seems to fly into my throat as I tumble through space, a desperate scream forming in my mouth, but I have no idea if it escapes; and even if it does, who would hear it over the storm?

The impact smashes pain through my body, and the unconsciousness, when it comes, is almost a relief.

* * *

**Review? Apologies for bad spelling and grammar; it's midnight and I'm too tired to proof read…:S**

**xxx**


	9. Chapter Nine

**Warning; this one's going to be quite short. I hope you enjoy it anyway . I'm rather depressed today. Because there was a strong chance I was going to be able to go up to London at the weekend to go and see Evanescence's concert. From backstage. And possibly meet them. And it would have been amazing. :DDD. Buuuut….then my dad had to go to Manchester, so I couldn't go because no one could take me. So I have been binging on chocolate mousse. On the plus side, I am going to see my other jointfavouritebandever (Within Temptation) ****_this_**** weekend :)))). But I'm not going to be able to go backstage or anything :( . Ah well. No use crying over spilt milk, eh?**

**Anyway, enough deviating and on with the story!**

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**_Chapter Nine_**

_I drift in the sunwater, letting the ocean rock me like a mother cradling a child. My hair drifts around my face like seaweed, brushing against my cheeks, tickling me. Sunlight streams from the surface, through the skin, sending rippling shafts of brightness dancing through the water. I feel the lights glow against my skin as the refraction ripples over me, casting exotic, rippling tattoos over my skin. Faro's hand is in mine, warm and reassuring as we drift through the ocean, the two of us basking in the light. But the sea starts to get rougher and rougher; it grows dark and treacherous. The sunlight disappears, turning the water murky. It presses down on me, and I can feel myself sinking, being drawn down to the depths. I can't feel Faro's hand anymore; it has slipped from mine and now I'm alone, floundering, helpless, as I sink into the Deep. The weight of the water presses down on my limbs making them clumsy and heavy, hard to move. Then something wraps around me; a tentacle, maybe. Something has hold of me; something is holding me tightly and securely; I'm caught and can't get free. A giant squid maybe, pulling me further down into the fathomless ocean, or maybe it's the Kraken, the Kraken is awake again and has me in his clutches, ready to take his revenge._

_"Faro!"_ _I call his name in panic. "Faro!" I thrash desperately, trying to escape, but the Deep is crushing my limbs and it's hard, so hard…_

"Faro!"

"Shh, keep still Sapphire. You're hurt."

"Mmmh?" The voice is familiar, and I frown, my mind leaving the depths of the sea as I try to place it. It's definitely not the Kraken's sneering giggle, but a male voice, deep and full of concern. Faro? No. No, I can tell that it's not Faro.

Someone's hand brushes my cheek, pushing hair out of my face. "Almost there."

The person is carrying me, I realise; that's what had a hold of me. I can hear their laboured breathing and then the familiar crunch of the gravel as they walk along our driveway. The gate creaks as they nudge it open with their foot, and after a moment I hear the familiar trill of our doorbell, followed by Sadie's barking. I groan and let my head loll back against the person, feeling as if someone's trying to hack it in two. Whoever the person is, they are nice and warm, and their chest is muscled; I can feel that even through the soft wool of their jumper. They smell nice too, like lemon blossoms. The door opens and Sadie's barking intensifies.

"Mal? Is that you?" There's a sharp intake of breath as the new voice's owner catches sight of me in Mal's arms. "What happened?" The voice, which I now recognise as Conor's, is sharp with worry.

"I was on my way here when I saw her go over the edge of the cliff." Light presses on the exterior of my eyelids as he carries me inside and the door is shut behind us. "She must have been blown over; you know how windy it can get up there, and she's not exactly heavy, is she?"

"Conor? Mal? What- _Sapphy_!" I can hear Mum waddling over as fast as she can; though with the baby that's not very fast. The baby? It takes a moment for that thought to register correctly. Yes, that's right. Mum's having a baby…we kept going on at her to have a new baby…

"What happened?" A man is speaking now, his voice urgent. "Set her down on the sofa. Conor, call an ambulance."

"Is she that badly hurt?" Conor's voice seems to have gone up several octaves.

"She's unconscious and bleeding from her head; I'm not taking any chances."

"I was just walking down the path." It's that Mal boy's voice again. "On my way to see Conor. I saw her get blown over; I'm not sure, but I think a bird might have attacked her, which made her lose her balance and then the wind caught her and she just…fell. I ran to where it happened and she'd landed on an outcrop a little way down. I managed to get down there and get her up…it was only about a meter down and I got her up onto the cliff and climbed up after her, but she must have hit her head on a rock, and she wouldn't wake up…" he trails off, and a tense silence falls.

I'm put down on the sofa and someone, Mum, I think, pulls a blanket over me. "Mum?" I manage to mumble through my semi-conscious state.

"Roger, she's speaking!" she calls, her voice shrill.

Roger. That's his name. And he's…who is he again…a friend of Mum's… No. Wait. Roger is…Mum's boyfriend? So where's Dad? For some reason I think he's out at sea. But why would he be there?

"Okay, that's good Jennie, just calm down. Think of the baby."

The baby? Yes…yes, I remember the baby...I remember something about a baby…But the baby isn't…Dad's? I thought Dad had a baby...

Confused thoughts swim round and around my head, none of them making sense to my muddled brain. I hear Mum take a deep breath and I think I hear her sink into a chair. I try to open my eyes, but my lids feel too heavy. A wet nose nuzzles my hand, and I feel soft fur under my fingers. Sadie. Yes, Sadie is here. But why? Did Jack bring her around for me to play with? She licks my fingers, whining softly, before resting her head on my leg.

"Sapphire?" That's that Roger man kneeling down next to me, touching my arm. "Sapphire can you hear me?"

I don't want him here. I can't remember who this guy is, only that he's a diver, a diver who's…who's my Mum's boyfriend…diver's shouldn't be in Ingo…I want Dad. Where is he? Where's Dad?  
"Dad?" I frown, but that makes my head hurt so I stop. Dad should be here, but he's not. I can't quite remember why. Where is he? My thoughts swirl in and out of consciousness, in and out of memories. For some reason I picture Dad, for a moment in the Peggy Gordon, his hair blowing in the wind, the waves lapping against the wood softly. But he's sailing away from me, far away, far across the briny sea and over the deepest waters…"Dad?"

I hear a muffled sob from across the room.

"Jennie…" Roger's voice is soothing. "She'll be fine. She's probably just got a concussion."

Dad's gone. The memories are coming back now slowly.

"The ambulance is on its way." That's Conor again. I hear him move over and sink down next to me, taking my cold hand in his warm one.

"I'll go up to the front gate and wait for them," Roger says, before darting out of the door.

I feel someone kneel next to Conor.

"Is she going to be all right?" It's the boy who rescued me, Conor's friend. What was his name again?

"I hope so," Conor says softly.

"She was calling a name," the boy says, and I can almost sense his eyes on me. "I think it might have been her boyfriend's."

Conor stiffens, clutching my hand even more tightly for a moment. "What? Whose name was she saying?" he snaps, sounding strangely fierce.

"Some guy called Faro," Mal says softly, a hint of resentment in his voice.

The thoughts fogging up my head are too confusing to dwell on. I stop fighting the heaviness overpowering my limbs and finally let myself sink back into unconsciousness.

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**Please review :)**


	10. Chapter Ten

**I'm back and just a bit like "aaaaaaaagh!" XD. I have so much homework over Christmas, I've lost my script for my AS drama performance which I have to have memorised by the end of the holidays and I'm having a massive freakout. But for some reason I'm updating this when I should seriously not be updating this and doing my homework. I blame all of you reviewers :P Why are you all so amazing and make me write more? Whhhhhhy? XD Ah well, I'll try and stop being so grumpy :P And my chapter plan has run off again, so I'm winging it :P**

**Oh yes, and I did go to the Within Temptation concert…it was amazing. Bloody amazing. Best night ever!**

**Another double barrelled dedication again, as I forgot last chapter :S. Sorry! You guys rock socks!:**

pingo9191**, **107 **and **Ellie**,** **AND** ayamey222**,** Elsie **and **Swifty14

**Oh yes, and finally: my 'O Peggy Gordon' cover is up! If you want to see, it's on YouTube; my user name is SapphireLovesTheSea :D Hope you like it!**

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**_Chapter Ten_**

"Here you go." I look up at the sound of a loud _thump_. Conor's dumped a load of school books by my bed.

"I hate you," I mumble.

"Nah you don't." He grins "Anyway, it was Katie that dropped them off for you. She's the one you should blame."

I sigh and sit up, stretching. "What are the odds that Mum'll let me go down to the cove?"

He snorts. "About…zero? Saph, you've only just got out of hospital; you have stitches, for God's sake!"

I pull a face. "Being an invalid is boring."

He laughs. "You prefer it to school though, don't you?"

"Well obviously. Rainbow and Patrick are so lucky!"

"Yeah, but they can be trusted to teach themselves. You can't."

I scowl at him. He laughs at me again and sits down on the end of my bed, next to Sadie who's been curled up on my feet, guarding me since I left hospital. I wouldn't be surprised if she never let me out of her sight again.

"So, how're you feeling, invalid?"

I put a hand to my forehead and pose dramatically. "I feel like I may swoon sir!"

He smiles, but it's short lived. "Seriously, I mean. You gave everyone quite a scare." He reaches out and takes my hand. "How could you have been so stupid?"

I just shrug non-committedly. "Sorry."

He sighs. "No, you know what; I'm the one who's sorry. If I hadn't had a go at you over Mal, then you would have stormed out. I'm sorry if I upset you."

"No, I overreacted-"

"No_ I _overreacted-"

We both laugh. "Call it quits?" I suggest.

"Yeah, all right then." Conor smiles and it's like the whole room brightens up; just like that I know that everything's okay between us again.

"But Saph…" Conor says, his earthy brown eyes concerned. "I have to ask…Faro…"

"What about him?" I shift uncomfortably.

"When you were hurt, Mal says you were calling his name."

"Oh." I rapidly become enthralled by my blue duvet cover.

"So I have to ask…I mean…do you…" he looks awkward. "Do you have…erm…romantic feelings towards him?"

"What? No! I mean, I was concussed, I thought that I was in the Deep and that Mal was the Kraken, and I was only calling his name to try and get him to help me and not because I have any romantic feelings towards him at all, of course no, we're just friends, I mean-"

Conor puts a dinger up over my lips to silence my babbling. "And the whole 'but he doesn't call me little sister anymore' thing? " he asks, adopting a high pitched girly voice when he quotes me, making me scowl, "What about that?"

There are a few threads coming loose in the duvet cover. I pull at them, trying to unravel some of it, suddenly finding it hard to meet his eyes.

"Saph? Are you listening to me?"

"Mmmhm."

"Saph, look at me. Leave the duvet cover alone. Do you fancy Faro?"

I slowly look up at my brother, only just managing to restrain my bottom lip from trembling slightly. "I….I don't know."

"Oh Sapphy…" He hugs me tightly and I hug him back, hiding my face, blinking back the hot prickly feeling which is building behind my eyelids for some stupid reason.

"I don't know what to do!" I finally wail. "What if I do like him like that and then we fall in love or something and I have to choose between all of you and him! What do I do then?"

Conor stiffens, his hands clenching the back of my dressing gown. "It won't come to that. You can't… I won't let you…just imagine what it would do to Mum, especially now that she's got so much better near water."

"I know. I can't do that to her. Not after Dad…" _But she will have Roger_. Whispers a tiny, spiteful voice in my head. _And the new baby. Maybe she won't need you. Won't miss you, Sapphire…_

"Then you know what to do then," Conor says, looking down at me with determination in his eyes.

"I do?" I blink up at him in confusion, unaware that we'd come to some kind of magical solution.

"Yes. Stay away from it. Stay away from him."

My mouth falls open. "But…but I can't-"

"Yes you can! Ingo, it's like…a sickness. An addiction. If you stay away long enough, then it will leave you alone. You'll be cured. And you won't be seeing Faro every day and you won't…won't lose yourself.

"But…but I don't want to be cured," I say, staring up at him in horror, biting my lip.

He puts a hand either side of my face. "Sapphy. Do you want to fall in love with Faro?"

I think of everything I love about home; Sadie's loyal eyes looking up at me when we go for walks through the town, Rainbow laughing with me as I wait for the bus, Mum's smile when I come in through the front door, even Roger's humming as he tends to Dad's garden, Conor and I curled up together watching T.V in the evenings, or Conor helping me when I'm loudly lamenting over my maths homework, or Conor making me hot chocolate when I've had a bad day…Conor. Conor, Conor, Conor…

"I'll try and stay away," I finally mumble softly, although I'm having trouble internally adjusting to the idea.

He kisses my forehead. "I'll help you. And thank you, Saph," he gets up, straightening the bedcovers. "Now you try and get some more sleep, okay?"

I sigh and nod, lying back down onto my pillows.

"Sadie?" Conor says, and my girl looks up at him, blinking those gorgeous chocolate eyes. "Look after her."

Sadie gives an affirmative bark, as if she's understood, before moving down along the bed so that she's stretched out next to me. I put an arm around her, her good, solid warmth reassuring me that everything's going to be alright.

"Sleep well Saph," Conor says softly, shutting the door with a gentle click.

I snuggle up to Sadie, closing my eyes, and she licks my hand comfortingly, making me smile.

As I begin to drift off, a thought slowly creeps into my mind unbidden. _What about everything you love in Ingo?_

Riding on dolphins so fast that I can barely breathe, laughing and the water makes my hair stream out behind me in a dark curtain. Lying in the sunwater, letting the ripples bathe my face with strange golden diamonds. Riding currents, delighting in the twists and turns and the exhilaration that rushes through me. The freedom to do anything I want, not being bound in by walls and rules and schoolwork...

And someone's warm hand in mine, guiding me, showing me the wonders of his world, his green eyes sparkling as they look into mine, his smug grin that makes me want to either punch him…or maybe kiss him.

I may have promised Conor that I would physically stay away, but mentally, that may be a lot harder.

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**Please review x**


	11. Chapter Eleven

**EDIT: This was meant to go up over a month ago. It didn't because my computer got a virus and everything was wiped off it. Luckily, my Dad has managed to find and rescue this for me! He rocks! So yeah. Sorry! Anyway… *END OF EDIT***

**Firstly, this is a chapter of celebration. Because a very special thing happened on the 5th. A very special thing. The new Ingo book came out.**

**It. Is. Amazing.**

**I have a new joint favourite pairing. Morvlin forever! Eiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeee! I was squealing so much because…well, you'll all just have to read it ;)**

**Anyway, if I don't ever update again after this is because I've probably drowned myself trying to get into Ingo again, so I humbly beg your forgiveness!**

**Oh, and for all you budding artists out there, there is an Ingo fanart competition on deviantART, run by moi! Please contribute your art, I'd love to see it! The competition ends on the 21st of February, good luck! Go to away-in-ingo. deviantart without the spaces to enter!**

**This chapter is dedicated too: **Darling Summers**, **sweetlyaddictive** and** Kiki**. Thank you guys! xxx**

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**_Chapter Eleven_**

_The dream is intoxicating, the faint echo of haunting music tugging at my soul. The waters are blue and clear, the sun rippling through the surface. Someone is calling for me, their voice pulling me, curling around my heart and drawing me close; it's like I'm being sucked in by the distant twisting rope of a current. _Sapphire? Sapphire, where are you?_ The loneliness and confusion in that voice is unbearable; the music swells to a crescendo and I feel myself reaching out for a hand which I can never quite find, trying to comfort a presence whose sorrow resonates throughout my entire body._

_There is never anybody there._

-x-

I haven't visited Ingo for over two weeks.

I've been off school for half of that; I was deemed well enough to return after seven more days in bed before being launched back into the monotonous cycle of lessons, homework and revision. In a way, it's almost a relief; it takes my mind off of things. And by 'things' I mean the big blue expanse which stretches out far into the horizon. It's almost like a physical ache; an itch which I can't scratch. A desperate longing for something I can't have. Conor watches me like a hawk; he's there every time I hear that familiar rush in my ears. He knows the signs by now; the minute I turn in the direction of the cove, the minute that that faint ripple crosses my face, he's there, holding me, keeping me anchored securely to land.

He's even swapped rooms with me; he is a notoriously light sleeper these days, so the moment I try to climb down the ladder he's awake and alert, ready to stop me. And my mer blood doesn't like it. Not one bit.

_He's keeping you prisoner!_ It sings. _He'll never let you go! Come where no walls can hold you, where there is freedom and wide open water….come away, away, away to Ingo…_

Sometimes I can feel myself beginning to hate Conor for holding me here, when the pull is at its strongest, and it's all I can do not to hurt him when he holds onto me, to punish him for not letting me breakaway and go where I so desperately want to go.

_Just please let me go!_

Mum keeps throwing little worried looks at me; I'm barely eating, I can hardly sleep for the strong roar of the sea in my ears. I'm thin and pale, and I keep staring out of the window with the look of a caged animal in my eyes. It's hard, so much harder than I thought it would be. But Conor says it will get better. He promises it will get better. But I miss it. And I miss _him_. He's an ever present ache burning in my chest, an ache soothed only by the sound of his voice in my dreams.

-x-

The seagulls are screeching over head as I walk along the track back home alone, the dust kicked up by my feet staining my trouser legs. The March air is cool against my face now that the heat wave is over, and the leaves of the trees are beginning to return, the buds gently swelling on the branches. They'll be blooming soon, bursting into life, making everything good and green. Blossom will grow on the trees throughout the village, the petals drifting from the flowers and creating drifts of pink and white at the edge of the roads. Norvys will wake. So why, even when Earth is growing strong again, is the tang of salt in the air is almost unbearable?

I inhale deeply, the briny taste of the sea rushing through my body, and the pull when it comes is stronger than ever, irresistible, inexplicable, and delicious. My feet move without warning, drawing me towards the cliff edge, all of Conor's warnings forgotten.

I don't even think of him as I kick off my school shoes and dump my bag on the edge of the rocky jut of granite and swing my body over, down, fumbling for handholds.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, a nagging sensation is telling me that I shouldn't, repeating my brothers warnings over and over, telling me I should climb back up the cliff, back up to the cottage and wait, in the warm, for my brother to return from the extra study period he has today. The crash of the sea soon drives even this small rebellious thought from my mind.

The sand is damp under my feet. I can feel water soaking through my tights. I start moving towards the expanse of ocean in the distance, but something else distracts me. I instead wander towards the rocks, like a piece of driftwood borne on the tide.

There is a boy on the rocks, and I feel my eyes light up in recognition as I scramble up the boulders and pull myself into a sitting position next to him. We sit in silence for a moment, drinking in each other's faces before, as one, we move towards each other. I am infolded tightly in his arms, my cheek crushed against his chest, my arms around his waist.

We hug for a long time, letting thoughts drift between us like flotsam and jetsam on a lazy tide.

_Where have you been, Sapphire?_

_I had to stay away. Conor was scared…I was scared…_

_Of Ingo?_

_Of losing myself to Ingo._ I carefully hide part of the true reason from him. It wouldn't do for him to know that.

_Would that be such a bad thing, Sapphire?_ He pulls away slightly and I tilt up my head to look at him. _You wouldn't be alone, I swear…_

_I know. But I couldn't…Conor…Mum…Sadie…_At just the mere thought of them Ingo begins to slide away from me. Faro feels it, I can tell.

_Don't think of them. Think of me. Think of Ingo. Think of the Mer, your _Mer_ family…_

It would be so easy. So easy to let all of Air be swept away like a tidal surge obliterating a feeble human village. Despite myself, I can feel myself being swept away, slipping underneath, while the sea crashes over me, pulling me down into an ethereal world where I can lie in peace on the sea bed, hand in hand with a boy whose enchanting green eyes are pulling me in.

_Faro…_

He reaches up touching the side of my face, and suddenly I can feel his loneliness. He's lonely. Elvira's gone, his twin, the person he was closest to has left him, and he doesn't really have anyone else. Except for me.

_Sapphire…_

I close my eyes. _I want to. Believe me. But I can't leave my family. Maybe one day…but not now._

We are both silent for a long time.

_I understand. You'd better leave now then. Your brother will be worried._ _After all, I am a bad influence. _

_Faro…_

_Just go Sapphire._

I sigh. _I'll be back when I can. I promise._

He hesitates, running his thumb gently down my cheek. _I look forwards to it._

I smile and open my eyes. I am momentarily shocked by how close his face is to mine. He pulls back quickly, removing his hand from my cheek.

"I'll see you." I say quietly.

"Yes. I'll see you." He lets go of me and slides back into the water, his eyes downcast.

I look back along the beach and see that the cove is nearly entirely full of water. I've been with him for a while; a stab on anxiety runs through me. I really should get back.

I stand up and prepare to dash along the rocks back to safety, when suddenly his voice calls out to me.

"Sapphire!"

I turn back. "Yes?"

"Just…be careful. I heard about your accident."

"It was nothing. Just a scratch." I shrug.

"I heard you had to go to the human healers."

"It was nothing, I told you."

"Hm. Just…look out for yourself."

"I will. You be careful too."

"Am I ever anything but?" he teases, smiling. He waves before ducking back down under the water, apparently disappearing from sight. But I can't shake the feeling that he's watching over me, all the way back along the rocks and as I climb up the cliff towards the dusky sky and the warm, familiar lights of home.

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**Please review**

**xxx**


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Howdy people :P First off, I am going to say that after this chapter I refuse to update until I have re-read the entire Ingo series. Because, to be frank, I haven't read them for at least a year and I feel that my writing is lacking because of that. The reason I have avoided reading them for so long is pretty much because every time I read them…this is going to sound stupid, but…well I get totally addicted to them and get really depressed and low because I still haven't found a way to live in Ingo :P It's true! That's how much I get into these books!**

**Also, sorry for not updating sooner; firstly I was on a creative writing course, which Helen Dunmore herself actually sometimes teaches, but she didn't teach the one I went on, sadly. But my teachers were still great :D Plus, if Helen had been teaching, I would probably have been staring at her, awestruck for the entire trip and I would have been too scared to read anything out XD. And then after that trip, I managed to get quite a bad chest infection, which was complicated by my asthma, and then I had a load of University visits and conferences and then I had family drama and drama at school and then I've had exams to revise for (and still do :S)…it's all been a bit blegh! In other news, however, I have finally found a new Cornish dictionary which I am extremely happy with, so Mer speech incoming! :D I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**The lyrics used are from 'What The Water Gave Me' by Florence + The Machine**

**In addition, thank you so, so much to everyone who has taken the time to review! I'm over 100 now! I can't believe it! This is the most reviews I've ever had! I screamed when I saw I had over 100! So this chapter is dedicated to **hhh, anon, Kera **and** Julia-xo. **Thank you! 3**

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**_Chapter Twelve_**

I hastily shove my feet back into my school shoes, which make a soft squelching noise due to the fact the bottom of my tights are now soaked with salt water. The sun is growing low in the sky as I swing my bag back over my shoulder and head along the track towards the cottage. The weight of the bag almost feels like chains around a prisoner, weighing me down and dispelling the light, free thrill of Ingo.

I sigh softly and push open the gate, just far enough so that it doesn't creak, and slide through the gap, shutting it securely behind me. I slip silently up the path and try to open the front door as noiselessly as I can. Luckily music is blaring from the radio in the kitchen. I listen closely and I can hear Mum and Roger in the front room, talking softly. No Conor. I silently send up a prayer to anyone who might be listening that he's not lying in wait for me, ready to pounce and ask me where I've been. Not that he'll have any trouble guessing. The worst thing will be the disappointment in his eyes.

I shudder, and then shake myself, slipping off my shoes and slowly padding towards the stairs, using the music to cover and creaking floorboards. I recognise the song; actually I think Rainbow lent me this album once, actually. She said a couple of songs on there reminded her of me.

_And time goes quicker between the two of us;  
Oh, my love, don't forsake me;  
Take what the water gave me… _

The song lyrics seem oddly appropriate. I smile to myself slightly, ascending the stair case towards my room, the song still echoing from the living room.

_'Cause she's a cruel mistress,  
And a bargain must be made.  
But oh, my love, don't forget me,  
I let the water take me…_

I sigh and push open my bedroom door; although I suppose technically at the moment its Conor's room, because he's sleeping in here. Sadie's curled up on the bed; she sees me and bounds up, lolloping towards me and jumping up, barking happily and licking my face. I scrunch her ears gently. "I'm here…" I mumble, kneeling down and wrapping my arms around her neck, burying my face in her sleek golden coat. "I came back. I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

"Sapphire?"

I turn, hearing Roger's voice from outside the door. "Is that you up there?"

"Yeah." I call back, standing up, quickly pulling off my wet tights and slipping my feet into Conor's slippers. Having feet covered in sand and salt water would be a bit of a giveaway.

"Could I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure." I reply and he opens the door, stepping inside and shutting it behind him.

"Sit down, Sapphire." He says, gesturing to the bed, and I do so, shifting to make room for him as he sits beside me, feeling my stomach sink slightly. This is beginning to look suspiciously like an attempt at a heart to heart.

"Now, Sapphire." He begins, shifting slightly awkwardly. "I know I can never replace your father, and I want to make it clear that I absolutely in no way try to intend to…"

Oh God. It is a heart to heart. I feel myself automatically wrapping my arms around myself, like an attempt at a defensive barrier.

"…but I just want you to know that if you have a problem or anything you need to talk about, you can come to me. I do care about you, and I want to be there for you."

We had one of these little 'talks' after the wedding, and it was an excruciatingly awkward, although not entirely unexpected, experience which I never wanted to experience again. But why is he giving me one right now? Is it because of the baby? Is he trying to stop me from feeling replaced?

"I know you're getting older and now that you're sixteen, you're probably going to have a lot of feelings and emotions which you are going to be confused about…"

I feel my eyes widen. Oh my God no. Don't let be that kind of 'talk'. Don't let this be that kind of 'talk'…

"…especially when it comes to boys. You are going to have certain urges…"

No. No. Nononono. It is that kind of 'talk'.

"And I just want to make sure that you are aware-"

"Roger!"

He stops talking, shifting uncomfortably.

"What bought this on?" I ask, grimacing slightly. "I know about this stuff…they tell us about it at school…"

"Oh." He looks rather relived. "Sorry."

"Why were you even…why did you feel the need…?"

"Sapphire." He's smiling in an understanding way. "I know where you've been going when you've said you're going down to the cove."

I blink. "Y-you do?"

"Yes. I saw you today."

_Oh God._

"Y-you did?"

"Yes. Sapphire, have you got a boyfriend?"

"_What_?! No!" If Rainbow has spread this around, I am going to annihilate her.

"Sapphire." He said gently. "I saw you with him today. Down at the cove. You don't have to be embarrassed."

I stare at him, my eyes slowly widening.

"Does Conor know?" he puts a hand on my shoulder. "Is that why you haven't been down to the cove lately? Does he disapprove?"

"Er…I'd prefer not to talk about it, thanks." I mumble, staring at my feet.

"Of course, of course…" Roger nods and stand up. "Well if you ever need anyone to lend an ear, you know where I am."

I manage to give him a convincing smile, which falls from my face as he leaves the room. Roger saw me with Faro. Roger saw Faro. I take deep breaths, trying to calm myself. He probably just thought he was a guy with his wetsuit pulled down to his waist, like I thought Elvira was when I saw her for the first time. Nevertheless…we've got to be more careful. Much more careful. It's Saturday tomorrow; I'll go and tell Faro then. I have got to warn him, just in case. I'll get up early, sneak past Conor and make my way down to the cove. Faro will be there, and if he's not I'll go and find him. If Roger finds out…I can't even bear to think about what might happen. Images of Faro being taken away, locked in a tank, cut up by scientists float through my mind. And it won't be just him. Once humans know about the Mer, who knows what they might do? _Once they have a taste of the money they could make, they'll never stop. _Whispers my Mer blood. _They'll be the death of Ingo._

I shiver, feeling suddenly cold, and yank the window shut. I stare through the glass at the streaks of scarlet and sienna beginning to light up the sky, and sigh, resting my head against the cold glass. I can see the sea from here, just over the edge of the cliff, and suddenly I feel tired, so, so tired, tired of fighting to stay evenly rooted in two worlds, tired of trying to balance things between Conor and Faro, tired of having to go to school every day and go through the endless cycle of lessons and homework and revision…tired, tired, tired. I just want to sleep. Just go to sleep forever. It's similar to the feeling the current gave me three or four years ago, when it swept me away upon my emergence from the Deep. Tired. Empty.

With a sigh I sit down on the bed, kicking off the slippers. I'll just rest for a little while. But when I close my eyes, I am instantly lost to the world.

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**Please review x**


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**There's a monster author's note, but I moved it to the end instead. Be prepared!**

**Dedicated too four lovely reviewers: ** , Deamonslayer576, Aymeliea **and** Lexa**. Thank you so much guys! x**

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**_Chapter Thirteen_**

"Saph?"

A hand shakes my shoulder, pulling me out of my tangled web of dreams.

"Conor?" I open my eyes sleepily.

"Tired? He sits down on the end of my bed, reaching out a hand to stroke my hair back off of my face.

I nod. "A bit. I feel better now though."

"What time did you get home from school?"

"Urm…about four?" the minute I say this, I know it must be wrong. The sun was setting when I got home, even though I'd left school at three. I must have slipped into Ingo time when I was with Faro…

"Lucky you; I've only just got back. Sixth period lesson, and then a study session, and then I got talking with Mr Boyd and you know how he goes on…and on…anyway, sorry about being late back."

"S'okay." I sit up, stretching.

"Were you okay, walking home by yourself?"

"Conor, I'm sixteen; I was fine…"

"You know what I mean…I'm not talking about…normal threats. Did you have any…any trouble with Ingo?"

For a moment, a stab or irritation goes through me. _It's none of his business…_whispers a small voice inside of my head, which sound rather too much like Faro for comfort. _None of his business what you do or where you go. He's treating you like a child._

"No." the lie slips out without my permission. "No, it was fine."

He blinks, before letting out a relived smile. "Good." He says in a more relaxed voice. "Maybe it's given up?"

"Maybe…" I mumble.

"Saph…" Conor lets out a soft sigh, and when I look up I can see that his eyes are troubled. "I'm not doing this to make you miserable I'm doing this for your safety."

"I'm not a baby; I can look after myself!"

"Maybe there's some truth in that. But Saph, I'm your big brother. I've been hardwired to protect you; I'm permanently set on 'Look After Sapphire' mode. And don't think… this isn't only…look, please believe me when I say that this is for your own good."

I stare at him in confusion before the realisation hits me. Conor misses Ingo too. As I study his expression, I realise something else I've been blind too as well. I realise why Conor hasn't truly been back to Ingo since we returned from the crossing.

_Blood swirling around the wound, drifting through the water. Ervys's dead eyes stare up at Conor, unseeing, unknowing, all life extinguished…_

Ingo is where Conor's nightmares reside; Ingo is where Conor killed a man. Ingo is where he _became_ a man. And, for the moment, Conor just wants to be a normal boy. A normal, eighteen year old boy who's getting ready to go to university, who likes surfing on Porthmeor beach, who might drink a sneaky beer or two with friends now and again (which he thinks I don't know about, but I do). He doesn't want to be a killer. And I bet that he also doesn't want to remember the look on Dad's face as he died.

"Saph?"

I blink, snapping out of my moment of insight.

"What?"

He rolls him eyes. "You're such a daydreamer. No wonder your teachers despair…"

"Oi!"

"'Sapphire has an intelligent mind,'" Conor says, adopting a thick, plumy voice. "'When she bothers to use it for purposes other than staring out of the window…"

"Hey!"

Conor ducks, chuckling, as a pillow is thrown at his head.

"Just because you're being eyed up by Exeter…"

He winks.

"What do you need to get in again?"

"Three A's…" he sighs. "No pressure there then…"

I roll my eyes. Considering that Conor swept through his GCSE's and emerged on the other side with seven A*'s and six A's, and in addition to the three A's and two B's that he get at AS-Level, I don't think he has a problem. Especially compared to the two A's, eight B's, two C's and a D that I got in my mocks last year…

Mum's over the moon with Conor of course; he has offers from both Exeter and Plymouth to study Maths, and both of them are close to Cornwall…

And then there's me, who's struggling to get a B in most of my subjects, let alone any A*'s…

"Dinner soon." Conor says, his stomach audibly rumbling. "God, I hope it's sausages…you're missing out, Saph."

"Quorn sausages taste just as good!" I protest, folding my arms.

"Whatever you say…" he smirks.

"Oh shut it…" I scramble out of bed and stand up, heading for the door, kicking something soft out of my way as I do so.

"Saph…"

I come to a halt as Conor calls my name. There's an edge to his voice which fills me with anxiety. I turn. "Yeah?"

The disappointment in his eyes triggers a gut-wrenching sickly feeling in my stomach. It twists with guilt as I turn and see him holding up the soaking wet, sand covered tights between two fingers, a look of disbelief on his face. He stares at me as if he hardly knows me, and I feel my cheeks burn with shame. "I…"

"I know you're good at lying to people, Saph," He says in a low voice. "But I didn't think I was one of them."

"Conor-"

"Just don't Saph!" he says, his voice rising slightly, his own cheeks fiery, but with anger instead of shame. "Just don't!"

I step towards him, but he spins away, climbing up into his room, the one I've been sleeping in recently, and pulling the ladder up behind him.

"Conor!" I stand underneath the trapdoor, the hurt look in his eyes haunting me. "Conor! I'm sorry! Conor!"

There's no reply. He must be really upset. I sigh and sit down on my bed, cursing me tights. An echo of a memory from years before drifts into my mind; Conor and I arguing over Ingo, Conor locking himself away upstairs, and me…and me…being tugged, pulled, the tide rushing out, drawing me after it.

_Sapphire…_

The voice from the sea is as deliciously temping as ever.

_Sapphire…_

"Sapphire!" there's a yell from downstairs. I blink, snapping out of my trance. Roger sounds desperate. Surely dinner's not that important? "Conor! Sapphire!"

I frown and head downstairs quickly. I hear Conor emerging from his room behind me as I race down the wooden steps. Sadie is whining and for a moment I panic, thinking something's wrong with her. "Sadie!" I rush to her. "What's wrong, girl?" I look up at Roger. "What's wrong with her?!"

"Nothing." Roger says, and for a moment I relax. "Nothing's wrong with Sadie…"

Conor joins us in the kitchen, brown eyes wide. "What's happening?"

Roger turns to look at him. "It's your mother." He says in a strained voice. "She's gone into labour."

* * *

**Look who's back? **_**Ea, hi bos va**_**! And I'm speaking (very bad) Cornish! I'm learning out of an online dictionary, so my grammar must be disgusting :S**

**Anyhoozle, I have reread the first four books and now feel ready to continue! I was initially worried that I might not like them as much as I did when I read them last…however, I soon realised I definitely did. The fact that I sat down intending to read the first few chapters of the first book and then ended up reading continuously until the end of book three testifies this. I would have read four as well, but by that point it was about 1am and it was a school night…:S And now that I've discovered my fangirl side, there was a lot of squealing and desperate handflapping during some of the Saro scenes. EEEEEEEEEEEEEE! SO CUTE! Ahem. And I now feel I'll be able to improve my characterisation. Especially with Rainbow. That little hyper minx!**

**I'm updating this MUCH later than I originally intended too (it's the thirteenth chapter! Doooom! Doom got in the way I tell you! Ahem.), mainly due to the fact that I sat down to write this and ended up re-writing my first Ingo fic, 'The Songs of Moryow', into a oneshot called 'The Call of Moryow' which is up now, if you're interested in reading that…*hint hint* ;). It's based around Jennie .**

**EDIT: And so it's now nearly three months after I sat down and wrote this authors note…fail. I meant to update after exams, but life got in the way, like it does. However, I will, seriously begin updating more frequently now, as SCHOOL IS OVER UNTIL SEPTEMBER! Hurraaaaaaaaaaaah! Bring on the Ingo-ness!**

**Also, I've found a use for my Twitter account (which has been sitting gathering dust…); updates on the progress of fic writing. It's Sapphire_Oceans if you're interested x**

**Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy and thank you so, **_**so, SO **_**much to everyone who reviewed! I don't think I've replied to all of them yet, sorry, but I'll get round to it!**


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**A quick update? What even is this? Thanks again to everyone who reviewed, especially the speedy reviewers on the last chapter! God I love you guys :D You give me the biggest smile :D  
And again, the competition on #Away-In-Ingo on deviantArt is still going, and we need more entries! There are prizes at stake here! XD Any artistic ability or style welcome, from photography to drawing to photo manipulation! Please enter!**

**And please enjoy the chapter! :D**

**Dedicated to **_Sapphy Blue_**,** _Reckless-Reason-and-Kitty_ **and** _Cat Dracula_**. Thanks for the reviews, awesome people! :D**

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**_Chapter Fourteen_**

The granite doorstep is cold and hard, but I sit there anyway, staring out through the long grass opposite our cottage and out over the sea beyond. I've been unceremoniously turfed out of the cottage for the time being, as apparently I was in the way- at least according to the plump midwife who arrived an hour or so ago and who took an immediate shine to Conor, who was standing there with fluffy towels and a bowl of warm water, and also to Rodger who was going through breathing techniques with Mum as though she hadn't already had two children. To be fair, I was standing there helplessly, like a rabbit in headlights, beginning to freak out at the prospect of a small person being pushed out of my mother, but _still_. She didn't have to insist that I leave, even if it was because there 'wasn't enough space'. Great. Even two males can deal with pregnancy and birth better than me. I squint up my eyes, staring out over the blood red horizon, watching as the faint sliver of sun visible slowly slides down over the horizon.

"It'll be a fine day tomorrow."

I look up quickly.

"'Red sky at night, shepherds delight', don't they say?"

Granny Carne sits down on the doorstep beside me, her gaze also fixed on the rapidly dying sun.

"I thought it was 'shepherds take fright'?" I say, not looking at her. I know it'll do me no good; I would bet all I own that she already knows every confused thought running through my head, every insecurity, every desire, every fear.

She chuckles. "Is it now?"

I shrug. "Maybe it's just one or the other. If the next day's fine, the former applies. If the next day's stormy, then the latter."

She chuckles again. "Very shrewd. So your suggesting those who say that don't really have a clue?"

I nod silently, a smile tugging at the corners of my lips.

"Very possible. But believe me when I say it will be fine tomorrow."

"I do."

"Not in the cottage with your mother?"

I shrug. "The midwife threw me out. I don't think aiding in childbirth is one of my skills." Along with anything to do with healing of any sort.

"You have other skills." She smiles slightly. "The sea's been calling you strongly lately."

My gaze flickers down to the ground. There are some withered red berries from the rowan tree lying on the ground near my feet.

"Ant idea why that might be?"

I stay silent, focusing on the berries.

"Conor means well, Sapphire. But you're in too deep now. You'll make yourself ill with longing, my girl, if you carry on like this."

I blink quickly, feeling salty water burning behind my eyes.

"And not just for Ingo, either."

The salt water escapes and trickles down my cheek.

"You're half and half. You love this world, but you love that world too. There are people you love in this world…and people you love in that world too."

"What do I do?" when I finally speak my voice is croaky. "How do I choose?"

"Hm. That's the hard part, isn't it?" she says in a kind voice. "For now, I'd say balance the two. Who knows? There may be a way to heal the rift between Norvys and Moryow."

I look up suddenly, wiping my cheeks hastily. "What do you mean? What way?"

She smiles, and for a moment I see a hint of that young, willowy women I saw years before. "You're going to have to find that out for yourself."

"But Granny Car-"

"Let's see how things are going." She gets to her feet, and I know that the conversation is over. She pushes open the cottage door just as the midwife is walking down the stairs.

"Ah! I was just on my way to get you." She says, nodding to me. "It's a girl. She's six pounds and fourteen ounces. They're waiting for you upstair-"

She doesn't get a chance to finish before I've dashed past her and into the bedroom. "Mum!"

"Shh!"

I skid to a halt at the sight of Mum cradling a small bundle wrapped in a blanket. She smiles up at me.

"Is…is she…"

"She's fine." Mum's smile widens. "She's just sleeping."

I walk over and peer down. I see a tiny, slightly squashed looking pink face, with Mum's nose and Rogers mouth and dark hair curling around her little face.

"Here." Mum raises the bundle. "Everyone else has a had a hold. I think it's big sister Sapphy's turn."

I look up and finally register Roger, who's sitting on the other side of the bed with a massive grin on his face, and Conor, who is sitting by the window staring at the baby with something close to reverence. I feel a stab of jealously. _I'm_Conor's sister, not this intruder, this new sibling scraping her way in. I glance behind me and see Granny Carne standing in the doorway with raised eyebrows. She nods at me, gesturing for me to take the baby, and, reluctantly, I do so. She feels awkward in my arms, heavier than I expected. She shifts slightly, screwing up her face, and for a moment I'm scared she's going to start crying. But no. Her fist reaches out and her tiny starfish hand curls around my finger. She clutches it tightly for a moment before sleepily opening her eyes and blinking up at me. She has Roger's eyes, bright blue, the colour of the ocean I was looking at only minutes ago. She lets out a tiny yawn.

I stare down at my sister's little face and a sudden wave of love crashes over me like the waves which crash over the Bawns at high tide. All jealousy, all resentment, all bad feeling is immediately washes away, for the moment at least, is replaced by the fierce, overwhelming desire to love, to protect, to make sure that that this tiny child in my arms is always happy, no matter the cost to myself.

"Hello." I whisper, blinking fiercely lest the salt water of earlier try to make a reappearance. "I'm Sapphire. Your big sister. And I'm going to love you no matter what, okay?"

She blinks up at me, almost as if she understands, although of course she's much too young.

"What's she called?" I ask Mum, looking up at her, still cradling my sister gently in my arms.

"Well…we were wondering if you had any suggestions. None of the names we'd come up with seemed to fit." Mum say innocently, and immediately I detect a ploy, a plot to make sure I feel included, to make sure that I don't feel cast out. It niggles a little bit but I mentally brush it off. I know that the jealousy and resentment may rear their heads again sooner or later, but for now I'm going to focus on the positive. I look back down at the baby, and names stream through my head.

_Morvah? Morvyn? Morveren?! _Too Mer. My mer blood translates for me; _sea grave, child of the sea, child of the mer…_

Much too Mer. I'd be condemning her to swim off down a stream from the word go.

_Elvira?_ No way. Again, too Mer, and no way I like Elvira enough to name my baby sister after her.

Another gemstone name? _Aquamarine?_ Nah. _Marina? _Again, born of the sea…I need to steer away from the sea theme. My Mer blood protests noisily at this decision, but I ignore it. I know now that my Mer blood does not purely stem through my father's side, and I need to do something to ground my sister to earth.

Earth…something that will give her roots here…something that will protect her…something that no evil can pass…

"Rowan." I say, staring down at my sister. "I like Rowan."

I glance up and see the smile on Granny Carne's face, and this time I return it.

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**Please review, because then I will dance around the room cheering like a maniac! :D**


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**Quite a lot of this chapter was inspired by the symbolism and motifs I noticed on my rereading of _Ingo._ It was my first time treading it as an A-level English student and I was just like: "...Whoa. Symbolism I never noticed before!" And this was born from that. The first half of the chapter may not seem that exciting, but there is a reason for it in a symbolic way XD. Anyway, I hope you guys like and thank you all for such lovely reviews! Also, the editing of the other chapters have been completed! Thank you so much for your patience! If anyone spots any gaping plot holes, ****_please_**** point them out and I'll run back and fill them in XD Lots of love, Sapphy xxx**

**This chapter is dedicated to **_starwarsgrl96**,** Jezel Redfern**,** catspajamas12**, **dragonett3 _**& **_annabethsapphireKatissgaleru e_**. Thank you all, you awesome people! xxx**

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**_Chapter Fifteen_**

"You'll find the mermaid of Zennor inside Zennor Church, if you know where to look. She's carved from old, hard, dark wood. The church is dark, too, so you have to bend down to see her clearly. You can trace the shape of her tail with your finger."

Rowan just blinks at me as I walk along the road towards the centre of Senara Chruchtown, but I like to think that she's taking this in. I've read the baby books lying around and know that she can see my face, even if she can't really form sounds to respond to my voice. But apparently she can mimic my facial expressions. I stick out my tongue at her and, after about a minute, she sticks hers out as well. I grin and adjust the baby carrier she's in slightly, so she's not being jiggled around so much. The last thing I need it a stream of baby vomit being projected at my chest and face.

"Someone slashed across her with a knife, a long time ago. A sharp, angry knife…" I trail off as I move to the side to let a car past. Lanes in Senara are definitely short of pavements. I start walking again once the car has passed, thinking about the mermaid and the knife that cut her. I can remember wondering, once, if it was Annie, Matthew's girlfriend. The mother of his child. The child which passed the merblood down, through the centuries, until it reached me and Conor.

"Sapphire!" I blink, jolted out of my thoughts by Katie's voice. I turn to smile at her as she speeds towards me on her bike, slamming on the brakes and coming to an abrupt halt next to me.

"Hey." I say, swaying slightly to soothe Rowan, who's beginning to grizzle a little. "How're you?"

"Meh, not bad." She smiles at me, and then at Rowan. "Oh my Gosh, your sister's sooo cute!" she begins to coo over Rowan, who looks rather startled by the sudden attention. "How old is she now?"

"Two weeks, thereabouts." I grin, the soft April breeze blowing wisps of hair around my face.

"Thanks for dropping off my school books." I say as we begin to walk down the road together, Katie wheeling her bike.

"It was nothing. Couldn't have you lying there relaxing or anything, could we?" she says with an wicked grin.

"You're an evil woman, Katie. Making me work." I stick my tongue out at her. Rowan copies me. "See? Even Rowan thinks you're an evil woman. Isn't she evil, Rowan?" My sister just blinks at me.

"Hey, can I hold her?" Katie says, smiling at Rowan as we walk by the Tinner's Arms.

"Urm…sure." Katie props her bike up against the wall and I scoop Rowan out of the sling and pass her over. "Make sure to support her head…"

Katie takes Rowan who, after a couple of seconds, starts wailing. I can see panic in Katie's eyes. "OhmyGod. WhatdidIdo?"

"Nothing…she's just grumpy today." I hold out my arms and she quickly passes Rowan back. I strap her back into the sling and begin jiggling her up and down again and gradually the wailing subsides.

"Why've you got her with you anyway?" Katie says curiously, calmer now that she isn't clutching a screaming baby.

"I'm babysitting; Roger's out at the diving school…Conor's over at Jack's…Mum's over in St Austell at Cornwall College..."

"Oh yeah, I heard about the Foundation Course; how long has she been doing that for now?"

"Well, she's doing it part time, so it'll take four years all together, and she started the autumn she got back from Australia, so…almost two years?"

"Wow. Well, hope everything goes well with that!"

"Thanks." I smile.

Katie glances at her watch. "Well, it's been great talking, but I'd better get going or I'll be late for work."

"Where are you working?"

"A Pharmacy in St Pirans. It's a hell of a cycle, but the bus doesn't run at the right time, so…"

"That sucks. Well, I'll see you then."

"See you!" she climbs back onto her bike and peddles off, waving.

I wave back, before crossing the street and climbing the steps up to the graveyard. I head down the path that runs in between the higgledy piggledy grassy graves and push open the dark wooden door of the church with a soft creak. I I let it swing shut behind me, and it closes with a dull clunk. The inside of the church is dimly lit. I step slowly down the aisle, padding softly across the diamond shaped slate tiles on the floor. The ceiling of the church is rounded; a wooden barrel roof. At the end of the church, above the alter and opposite the bells is a stained glass window depicting St Senara herself. I, however, am looking for something else. I reach the end of the pews and turn to the right. There, in the South Transept, is the chair. I kneel down on the right of it, so I'm facing the carving of the Mermaid. I lift Rowan from the sling and turn her to face it. "That's the Zennor Mermaid." I whisper. "Dad told me about her when I was little. You probably can't understand me right now, but I'm going to tell you anyway. And I'll tell you again, when you're older. It's important, you see. For people to understand. Because we have to heal Earth and Ingo. We have to make things right, restore the balance. And we have to understand our history to do that. How do you know where you're going if you don't know where you've come from?"

Rowan whimpers softly, and I slip her back into the sling, getting off of my knees and sitting on a nearby pew. She blinks up at me with her bright blue eyes and I smile and take her tiny hand in mine. "The Zennor Mermaid fell in love with a human…"

-x-

That night when I dream, it's a swirl of crazy images and feelings that, when I wake the next day, I can't put my finger on. All I can recall is the brown wooden eyes of the Zennor mermaid blinking up at me as I desperately rubbed at the gash that ripped through her, the good, solid warmth of my sister in my arms, the light steaming through the stained glass windows. I remember I knelt on the stone floor in front of the alter and looked up at the narrow window above, staring up at St Senara.

A glass tear ran down her cheek and shattered on the cold, hard slate tiles.

-x-

The warm spell is over.

I wake up shivering on Sunday morning and burrow further under my duvet, now missing my normal spring attire. I'd taken to wearing vest tops and shorts to bed due to the unseasonably hot weather, but now long for my flannel PJs. There's a spare blanket on the end of the bed and I grab it, pulling it over the duvet for extra warmth. To make matters worse, I'm still in Conor's room, up in the attic, so I'm even colder than I would be normally, and I have no Sadie-shaped hotwater bottle. The quarrel between Conor and I was quickly resolved (it's a wonder what a cute baby smiling at you will do to any animosity you're feeling), but he's still anxious about my whereabouts- not that I've had much time to go to Ingo anyway with a new baby in the house. When I'm not doing homework, I'm heating up bottles or doing nappy changes in order to give Mum and Roger a break. They both look exhausted. Conor helps as well, but he's got A-Levels to revise for, and coursework to do…not that I don't have the same to do with GCSE's, but then again; a smelly nappy, or Math's revision? I'll chose the nappy.

I snuggle deeper into the warmth of my covers, closing my eyes, deciding to have a bit of a lie in, while I still have the chance. It's so blissfully warm under here it's just like being hugged by a giant teddy bear. Warm and snuggly and cosy and sleepy…

The wail rudely interrupts my dozing. I love Rowan, but still; there is a time and a place! And nine o'clock on a Sunday morning is not it! I hear footsteps downstairs, creaking floorboards as Roger rolls out of bed to deal with the shrieking terror. I take a deep breath and sit up as well, knowing full well now that I won't be getting anymore sleep this morning. The shock of cold to my system making me shudder as I throw back the covers and quickly hop out onto the wooden floor. I throw my pyjama's on the bed and begin to dress, pulling on a pair of jeans for what feels like the first time in weeks. A navy blue fisherman's jumper is hastily pulled on over my t-shirt, as well as a pair of thick woolly bed socks on to my icy feet, before I head downstairs, past Conor who's already awake and studying. Like I said; he's a light sleeper these days. I ruffle his hair as I pass and he swats at me as if I'm an irritating bug. He's not a morning person. Roger is standing in the kitchen feeding Rowan, yawning sleepily. He looks totally washed out, with big bags under his eyes. But hey; at least he's not asking what I'm doing in the cove anymore. He hasn't got the energy to worry about my so called boyfriend, let alone do anything about the situation. I grab a cereal bar as a I swing past the cupboard. "Morning."

"Mornin' Shapphy…" he mumbles, blinking blearily. "Where you off to?"

"Walking Sadie." Sadie, who is sitting by the door, perks up at the sound of the golden word. I grin and grab her lead, clipping it to her collar.

"Okay…be careful."

Everyone seems to be telling me that these days. I roll my eyes, but I'm not really annoyed with him anymore. I like to think that older siblinghood has mellowed me. Or maybe it's just that he's stopped prying into my business. Either way, we're back to that mutual respect we had before the whole baby issue. I hope it'll stay that way.

I bang the front door behind me, opening the cereal bar and munching as I walk down the front path with Sadie. I'll walk right along to the headland with her and then back; a short walk, but an adventurous one, climbing over stiles and along narrow tracks and the like. She bounds ahead eagerly, wanting to be set free, but I keep her on the lead, just in case. I can still remember the seagull which flew at my head not so long ago. I shudder at the thought. I remember Faro's warning words and the look on his face when he spoke of Ervy's old supporters. _Be careful._

That was what Roger said. _Be careful._ Suddenly his words don't seem so silly.

We've reached the headland, and the sea is stretching out in front of us. But something feels off. Something feels wrong. I don't know what, but the feeling is growing deep within me. As if on cue, Sadie begins to growl, the hair on her neck rising. I put a hand on her collar. "It's okay, girl, it's okay…" I turn and begin to head back towards the cottage, chewing my lip anxiously as the feeling grows stronger. _Something is wrong. Something is wrong in Ingo._ I begin to run, Sadie hurtling along beside me, a blur of golden fur. I reach the cottage and rush inside, unclipping her lead. Roger has gone upstairs; I can hear him murmuring to Mum. I dash outside again, shutting the door before Sadie can follow me, and snatch my swimming costume and wetsuit off of the washing line, where they generally hang unless in use. I practically tumble down the cliff, leaping from rock to rock, wetsuit and costume over my shoulder. I slip at the last minute and land with a thud on the wet sand, but quickly get to my feet. My merblood is singing now, thrumming with the same sense of _wrongness._ _Ahwer yn Ingo. Ahwer yn Ingo. _Trouble in Ingo.

I scramble into the costume and sit on a rock as I wriggle into the wetsuit, tugging it up. I fold my clothes and leave them and my shoes in a cranny above the waterline before running towards the waves, my hair streaming out behind me. The shock of cold vanished quickly as I slip into the embrace of Ingo, wading further and further in until I'm swimming and then I'm under, water lapping over my head. I swim forwards, out of the arms of the cove, out into open water. _Faro._ I call. _Faro!_

_Sapphire? Sapphire!_

_What's going on?_

I can know he's shaken by his tone, and the thought of _Faro_ being shaken by something scares me. Fear begins to creep through me, icy cold fingers clutching at my throat.  
A flicker of something stirs at the edge of my mind. An echo of a dream.

_It's them. Ervy's supporters. They…_ he trails off, as if composing himself.

I remember kneeling in front of the Zennor mermaid, trying to rub out the gash.

_What did they do Faro? What did they do?_

I rubbed and I rubbed as desperately as I could, but she wouldn't heal, and the crack just grew deeper, the divide between her human half and her mer half increasing.

_They wanted to punish those with mixed blood. Punish us._

_What did they do, Faro?_

He hesitates, before summoning the courage to speak. _They took Mordowrgi._

I can remember now, the end of the dream.

With a sickening crack, the Zennor mermaid broke in two.

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**Reviews would be very much appreciated :D xxx**


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**OMG.**

**What is this?**

**A new chapter?**

**Naaaaaaaaaaaaw, it can't be! You know that girl Sapphire, she never updates!**

**What?**

**It is a new chapter?**

**NO WAI!**

**Ahem. Sorry. Insanity bubbled over. But yes, this is a new chapter :D Again, my profuse apologies for the lack of updating; a combination of school work (A-LEVELFEAR), a nerdy social life, ill health and University Applications :S Oh, and writers block, TBH. I made some changes to my Big Book Of Plot, as I wanted to story to go in a slightly different direction, and then was just like; how do I get to this point now? Oh God. What have I done? What do I write?! Some inspiration came to me the other night. In a dream. It was an awesome, Ingo themed dream. And it presented me with some plot elements, for which I am most grateful. However, I'm still not very happy with this chapter, damnit! It just felt so awkward to write, and I'm so sorry if it's crap and you all hate it! But if you do hate it, please tell me why and I'll use it to improve :D**

**In other news, I have recently uploaded a song called 'The OTP Song (I Will Go Down With this Ship)' to my youtube channel (SapphireLovesTheSea), and please know that Saro are in there, if you feel like checking it out :D I would be much obliged :D**

** So, anyway…ONWARDS!**

**This chapter is dedicated to **I Am Pure Awesomeness**, **maybei'mdreaming ******and** MortalDarkDevices**. Thank you all so much :D**

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**_Chapter Sixteen_**

For some reason, I think of baths.

A bath is a bit like the sea, as in in the fact that both are full of water. When I have the time to take a bath, I like to lie under the water whilst the tap is running, listening to the thrumming sound fill the water around me. It's soothing. I like to let my hair float loose around my face. It always looks much nicer underwater than it does above; less tangled. I can see red and gold streaks when the light shines through it. Right now, I feel like I am underwater in a bath because all I can hear in my head is a pounding noise, which I think might be my own heart. However, although the sea may bear a passing similarity to a bath in that it is full of water, the resemblance stops there. Baths are small, contained, safe. The sea is massive, wild and very, very dangerous. So dangerous that little mer boys can be taken by their own kind.

I meet Faro a little outside the entrance of the cove and we swim together in tense silence. There's a crowd of Mer gathered outside Melina's cave when we arrive. They look up as we approach; some nod in greeting and we nod back. The crowd parts for us and Faro leads me inside, trying to maintain his cool composure, but his fingers are twitching in agitation. I shoot a sideways glance at him and slip my hand into his, squeezing it. They relax slightly, and he squeezes my hand back, shooting me a half smile.

Mellina is maintaining a surprisingly composed demeanour when we enter the cave. She is seated on a rock, her long hair pulled to one side and braided in a business-like manner to keep it out of the way. She has a couple of other people with her, other mer; a woman and two men. They nod to us, as the other mer did, as we arrive.

"What happened?" Faro asks, coming to a halt next to his aunt and resting a hand on her shoulder. "I didn't…didn't hear the exact details from Hagerawl."

"He was playing." Mellina says, with only a slight tremor to her voice. "Just outside the cave. I went inside for a moment, to get some more seagrass –I was weaving whilst I watched him- and when I came back he..." she takes a moment to compose herself, before resuming. "He was gone."

I frown. "How do you know it was Ervy's followers then? Maybe he's just wandered off, and he's fine?"

"Because Talek found us a little while later, when we were searching." She says in a tight voice. "He says that he saw Mortarow. And that he gave him a message for us." She raises her head and meets my eyes, her own a startling green. "If you and Faro don't hand yourselves over to them, then we'll never see Mordowrgi again."

Faro and I stare at her, before looking at each other, wide eyed.

"I'll do it." He says after a moment, his eyes blazing, tossing his head back proudly. "I'll hand myself over; all the worse for them."

"Don't be an idiot!" I say, glaring at him. "You're Saldowr's _scolhyk_! You're much too important to just hand yourself over!"

"Well what do you suggest then?" he says, folding his arms.

"Well, I could…could hand myself over." I say, trying not to let my voice shake at the thought. Faro is braver than me, much braver. I think of what they might do to me once they have hold of me and have to suppress a shudder. They would hurt me, I'm sure of it. Probably kill me. I'd never see mum again. Conor might think I've just swum off into Ingo without a second glance. And Rowan…Rowan wouldn't even remember me. I'd just be the big sister who died before she ever had the chance to know her. But then I think of Mordowrgi, his sunny little smile, his mother of pearl tale, his shining, happy eyes, and how can I not? Even if I haven't visited him as much as I should- in fact, I've never really even been to his cave before; I only ever get to see him whenever Faro is taking care of him for the day. But he's still my little brother, my broder, and I'll still kill anyone who hurts him. This thought cements my resolve. "Yes. I'll hand myself over."

"Neither of you are listening." One of the men speaks for the first time, and Faro and I both look over at him. I recognise him from Saldowr's cave years ago; Pledyer. "They want _both_ of you, not either one of you."

"But neither of you are to go charging off yet." says the woman, who I don't recognise. "We'll try and get him back by other methods first."

"And when we find Mortarow and the others…well." The second man's smile is full of dangerous promises.

"The mer do not fight amongst themselves." The woman says, her silvery eyes steely. "We are not like humans, with wars and battles and armour and their tanks and bomber planes. But when a few, foolish _clopins_ disrupt what fragile peace we've managed to salvage from the last time they stirred up trouble…well. I'm sure we can make exceptions." Her lips tighten. "Especially when they steal children from behind the backs of their _mammow_."

"These are true words, Bryntin." The second man nods, before turning to Mellina. "We'll begin to spread the word." He leaves without more ado, followed by Talek, who seems ever so slightly uncomfortable, quite possibly due to his previous allegiance.

Bryntin turns to Faro and I, sweeping her molten gaze over us, her dark hair billowing out around her and making her look like a warrior queen. "You two stay here. They'll be looking for you." She commands, before sweeping out after the two men.

Faro shakes his head slowly, staring after her in admiration. "What a woman." He murmurs, letting out a low whistle.

For some reason, this sends a sharp pang of irritation through me, despite the serious situation. I hastily block my mind from Faro and shove it down; there are much more important matters at hand than whatever mixed up feelings that I have for him. Also, now that Faro and I are alone in the cave with Mellina for the first time and the initial panic has died down somewhat, I'm becoming increasingly aware that I once held the woman on the other side of the cave responsible for ruining my childhood and stealing away my father. I glance at her out of the corner of my eye. It's funny. Sometimes I still forget that she's just a woman…well, a mer woman, but that's not the point. When I was younger, I would build her up in my mind to be this seductress, the kind you see on television, the ones with bright red lipstick and clingy dresses and expensive jewellery, although of course I knew that that was impossible in Ingo. But it's just what I pictured. A home wrecker. A siren. An evil temptress leading my father away from us. It's still almost an anti-climax every time I see her; she's just a normal woman, albeit with a tail, with a sweet, open face and a welcoming smile. The smile is absent now. It's unfair. I know it's unfair to blame her. When I was younger, I would, but now not so much. It's like Saldowr said. Mellina may have sung to Dad, but he chose to listen. I don't hate her, anymore, don't blame her. I actually respect her, especially now when she's managing to remain so calm and collected, when inside she must feel like screaming.  
I don't hate Dad, either. How could I? I forgave him long ago.  
Melinda gives me a brave, tentative smile and, after a second, I smile back.

"I'd better go and start helping out." She says in her sweet voice. "Both of you stay in here."

Faro makes a noise of protest, but is silenced by the look on her face.

"I'm serious, Faro. I've already lost Matthew and Mordowrgi. I don't want to lose either of you."

She sees the mutinous looks on our faces and sighs. "Please? If the two of you were caught…just please stay here." She turns and leaves before we can argue.

Faro and I glance at each other.

"There will be bloodshed in Ingo once more." He says, his voice shaking with anger. "More of the mer will die. And why? Because a small minority just can't…just can't…what is that human phrase?"

"Let it go?"

"Yes. They just can't let it go."

The look on his face reminds me of the time, years ago, when I told him about Roger and the other divers going near the Bawns. Teeth bared, eyes flashing, rage coursing through every fibre of his body.

"What do we do?" I whisper softly.

"I am Saldowr's _scolhyk _and his _holyer._" he replies, looking determined. "I cannot sit back and watch like a helpless child as the mer wage war. I shall go and find a way to end this."

"You know…" I glance up at him. "If Mortarow's forces are occupied with preparing to combat large amounts of mer, it's possible that two teenagers could easily slip past undetected…and perhaps rescue a small mer boy?"

Faro stares at me. "So the large force are a diversion? I like this plan, Sapphire, except for one aspect…"

"Which is?"

"I shall go alone. You stay here."

I stare at him and slowly raise an eyebrow.

"What?"

"You want me to stay here. While you save my brother. And put yourself in danger."

"Urm…yes?"

"On a scale of one to ten, how likely do you think that the outcome of that request is going to be positive?"

"Hmmm…ten?" he smiles hopefully.

"An interesting theory. A very incorrect theory. Come on. Let's go." I go to leave the cave, but he grabs my arm.

"Sapphire, no! I don't want you putting yourself in any more danger."

"That's incredibly sweet, but I can take care of myself."

"That's not true! Remember when the Tide Knot burst, and you were slammed into that house and you cut yourself, and there was all that blood?" he raises his eyebrows.

"And also, that time when…oh yeah, I sent the Kraken back to sleep? And, you know, when I complete the Crossing of Ingo with you? That thing that the mer do? I'm not really such a puny human anymore, Faro. I can look after myself. In fact, I think that you need me with you in order to look after _you_._"_

"I do not!"

"Well you _would_ say that, wouldn't you?"

He grits his teeth. "Fine. Fine, you can come. But at the first signs of danger, you get out of there, okay? I don't want you to get hurt. I actually care about you, believe it or not."

I sigh softly. "I care about you too. Which is why I'm coming."

He takes my hand and squeezes it gently. He seems to be about to say something, but then seems to change his mind, looking away. "We should leave." He says. "We need to get Mordowrgi back before the fighting starts."

I nod. "Then what are we waiting for?"

Hands still joined, we turn and leave the cave.

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**Blegh, sorry if that was awful! Hopefully the next chapter should be an improvement! Feel free to tell me what you thought in a review, even if you hated it – tell me why you hated it and I can learn from my mistakes! XD**

**Sapphy**

**xxx**


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**Yaaaaaay an update! *Throws a party* I hope that everyone had a lovely Christmas! Mine's been a bit stressful, but I managed to get this done in the end XD I mainly wrote it powered by coffee if I'm honest XD And the plot bunnies for this have been eating my brain and killing me. Seriously. I got out of bed three times last night to write out long notes to myself about what I was going to do for the next chapter and the sequel. And stuff to include in 'Never Go Back'. In case you haven't seen it, 'Never Go Back' is my new Ingo multi chapter fic, and if I'm taking my sweet time updating this story, feel free to pop over to that and have a read XD There is much angst in it XD Also, I have about six oneshots for Ingo, so feel free to check them out too. Hint hint ;) Anyway, I hope you enjoy, I'm a little bit iffy about this as I don't generally write a lot of action packed stuff, but hey, I tried :D I hope you enjoy, and I hope you all have a wonderful 2013!**

**Thank you as always to all you wonderful, wonderful reviewers! This chapter is dedicated to**whoshalljudgeangels**,** onlinegirlgoing4god**, **Ingo lover**, **silly ole' me**, **Bowoobiter**and **BlueLeopard**.**

**Thank you all so much for taking the time to review :D**

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**_Chapter Seventeen_**

We've been swimming for what seems like twenty minutes, but which could actually be something like a day considering Ingo time. After getting directions from a dolphin who learnt from a shoal of mackerel, who learnt from two basking sharks who heard it from a seal who saw the entire thing, we roughly know where we're heading, but I've got a nasty feeling that this whole rescue mission could be down to luck.

Privately, I'm beginning to wonder whether I've made the right choice; it did seem so much safer back in that cave, where we were shielded from danger and the Mer who want to kill us. Not that I'd ever let Faro know that I'm having second thoughts. Besides; how could I just have sat there in a nice safe cave whilst my little brother was in danger? The thought of Mordowrgi, scared and alone, makes my stomach contract and I swim a little faster. No. I've definitely made the right choice, even if I am so scared it feels like my heart's going to burst out of my chest and that the cereal bar I had for breakfast is going to make a reappearance.

_Down._

Faro's voice in my head makes me jump, and I quickly swim down with him, taking shelter under a seaweed covered outcrop of rock. I squeeze in tight next to Faro, clutching his hand so hard that I must be crushing his fingers, not that he complains. We sit there in silence, eyes wide, waiting. After a moment, I sense movement above us. I peer up through some of the seaweed concealing us at the Mer swimming above, weapons in hand, the weapons made of metal that the rest of the Mer despise so much. There's about fifty of them, all fearsome, all swimming with strong determined strokes.

_There they go._ Faro's mental voice is dripping with disgust. _Ervy's old followers. I've got half a mind to rip them to pieces right now._ We're packed in so close together that I can feel him trembling with anger.

_Well you can't. There are fifty of them and only one of you. Besides, we need to find Mordowrgi; we can't let anyone know that we're here._

He nods slowly, but I can still see the rage blazing in his eyes, and I know that he hates this, hates skulking in the shadows, not charging head on at the enemy. Hiding from danger.

_We don't have any other choice._ I tell him. _We need to end this._

After a moment, he relaxes slightly. _I know Sapphire. But…could you please stop holding my hand so tightly? I can't feel my fingers. _I loosen my grip and he flexes his digits, smiling ever so slightly. _Scared, Sapphire?_

_No way. I don't know the meaning of the word fear._

_Maybe you should have stayed back in that nice, safe cave…_

_Is this because I'm a girl?_

_No. Bryntin's female, and she's a fearsome warrior._

_I hate to break this to you, but she's too old for you, Faro._ I pat his arm. _Sorry._

_I don't know…I could stand a chance._

_Nuh uh. She could be your mother._

_That's a bit of an exaggeration!_

_She could have had you young._

_There is nothing wrong with an older woman!_

_Of course not. But you're just a kid to her. She wouldn't look twice._

He frowns. _You think I'm a kid? I'm older than you!_

_Technically. But not mentally._

_You sure about that?_

_Totally sure. Underneath all those muscles, you're just a little boy. _I smirk.

He raises his eyebrows at me, and with a lurch, I suddenly realise just how close we are. Our foreheads are practically touching.

_I'm not…_ he puts his hands either side of my face, and somewhere inside my body, I swear that my heart _stops_ in shock. _..A little boy._

For a moment, we stay stock still, staring into each other's faces. A million different expressions flit across his face -uncertainty, worry, fear, tenderness- but his eyes remain locked on mine as he draws me closer towards him, and I know that if I needed air right now, I wouldn't be getting it, because , my lungs have stopped functioning as well. We're only a fraction of a millimetre apart when he suddenly pulls away. _They're gone._

He swims out from under the shelter of the rock and begins to head in the direction that the Mer were coming from, his hair streaming out behind him. I follow him slowly, my heart still recovering, the rest of me not sure how to feel. Did I just imagine that? Am I going crazy? Was it just a reassuringly friendly gesture to comfort me? I just…ugh!

Over the course of the last month or so, I have come to a conclusion.

Men are bloody confusing.

They are aliens, and the female race would be much better off if we shot them back up into space where they belong.

End of.

The kelp forest we're swimming through is cold and dark, and the emerald strands that cling to my skin are slimy. Faro is constantly on edge, his hand clenched around my wrist more out of habit than necessity. His uneasiness is catching; I find myself becoming twitchy, constantly glancing over my shoulder in case of someone sneaking up behind us. We swim halfway between the surface and the seabed, hoping to avoid any enemies we might encounter. Of course, although we are hopefully shielded from view, this method of travelling does have its disadvantages; we won't be able to see anyone coming towards us until they're about a metre away. Which could be far too late.

_Not far now._

I can hear the tension in Faro's thoughts just as clearly as I can see it in his body, in the way his eyes flick from side to side, the way he clenches and unclenches his free hand. I find myself chewing my lip, a habit I've been indulging more and more often lately in moments of anxiety, and force myself to stop before I gnaw the skin off entirely. Not that it will matter whether or not I have sore lips if a Mer person with a spear runs me through. The light up ahead is growing stronger, the water around us growing clearer as the kelp begins to peter out. I glance at Faro out of the corner of my eyes as we approach the edge of the kelp forest, able to see him more clearly now, whereas before his face had been overcast with green rippling shadows. Of course, it's stupid to still be thinking about that particular moment under the rock shelf when _my baby half-brother has been kidnapped by blood thirsty killers._ I try to keep focusing on the task at hand, but some idiotic part of me keeps piping up and wondering about details which should really be considered irrelevant in the light of recent events.

We pause as we reach the boundary between kelp and open sea, both of us looking around for danger. After a long, cautious moment, Faro nods and we begin to swim forwards and downwards, so that we can hide amongst the labyrinth of rocks which litter the sea bed. I think for a moment of the claw creatures and shudder violently. Faro glances up with concern, but detecting my thoughts, he shakes his head.

_They will not venture this far south, Sapphire. It's not them we need to worry about._

I nod, although I still keep a sharp eye out, just in case. You never know; claw creatures might like a holiday as much as anyone else.

We swim through jagged teeth of rock and underground tunnels lines with weed until finally we reach the place that we were informed of. A barren rock face greets us, pitted with multiple caves. The area around it is deserted.

_In there?_ I murmur, staring around at the desolate scene before us.

He nods, glancing around cautiously before moving forwards. I follow him, my heart sinking. How will we ever find Mordowrgi? And even if, by some miracle, we do find him, how will we ever escape? The granite rock face before us seems to conceal an impenetrable labyrinth of tunnels and caves, which we may never find our way out of. We'd wander them forever until we died and our bodies turned to dust, or until one of Ervy's followers found us. We've almost reached the lowest cave when an armed Mer man appears from within it.

We freeze, staring at him in shock.

He freezes, staring back at us.

And then everything happens at once.

The first Mer man turns towards Faro, diving for him, yelling for assistance. I start forwards to help, but a second man emerges from another cave, cutting in between us. I back away as he moves towards me, knife in hand, grinning viciously. Behind him, I see Faro struggling with his opponent and, with a wrench, I see a thin trail of blood curling through the water like smoke. _Faro_. I've got to get to him. I've got to help him. But how? I back away further as the wall of muscle and sinew continues towards me, his eyes gleaming with the victory of the hunter. What am I? A silly, weak, human girl who's totally unarmed. Success is his. I can see it in his eyes as I'm backed against the rock face, fumbling for something I can use in my defence, anything. In my mind, I see Faro and my bodies drifting down to the ocean bed, the blood draining from us just like it did Dad. Will Conor ever know of my fate? Will Mum? Will Roger? I picture Rowan growing up and never knowing her big sister, the one who vanished long ago without a trace, without an explanation. All she'll have are photos and maybe a faint memory of the girl who told her stories of mermaids and their lovers.

And Mordowrgi.

My brother. I am one of four now, Conor, me, Mordowrgi and Rowan.

Mordowrgi was another woman's child. The woman that dad left us for. But he is still my brother, still bound to me through blood, just like Rowan. Just like Conor. There are people I care about, Mum, Conor, Rainbow, Patrick, Sadie, Roger, Rowan, Mordowrgi…and Faro. The boy I can see fighting for his life on the other side of the man who is itching for my death. The man whose hands go around my neck and squeeze. And although I don't need to breathe like I do on land, I need that flow of oxygen that the sea water brings. I stare into his eyes, see the hatred for me and everything I stand for, and in that moment they all rush through my head, those I care about. And I know now that I won't die here in the depths of the ocean. I won't die here at this man's hands. I know I will fight for them, whatever the cost. And that is why I swing the rock that I have been concealing as hard as I can against the man's skull.

There is a sickening crack.

The vengeful eyes glaze.

His grip loosens.

And I hit again, and a third time until he lets go completely and falls to the sand littering the seabed, blood clouding the water around his head. He is still, deathly so and although I don't know if he _is_ dead, I don't want to find out. I suppress the urge to vomit which is building in my stomach; instead I snatch up his knife and turn to the first man, my eyes narrowed, and I focus on the adrenaline pumping through me like fire, their images flashing over and over again in my mind's eye.

_Mum, Conor, Rainbow…_

The two of them are not struggling so fiercely now; the man has Faro in a head lock and is inching the knife further and further towards Faro's throat, while Faro tries desperately to stop him.

_Faro…_

"Drop the knife." I press the cold metal blade into the man's back. "Drop the knife or I'll run you through."

There is a long silence, before the man starts to laugh. "Very funny, girl." He chortles. "Are you sure that you've got it the right way around?"

_Sapphire…_ Faro's mental voice is weak, pleading. _Leave me…_ I ignore him, poking the knife harder into the man's back, and the laughing ceases. "I told you to drop the knife." I hiss furiously.

Faro has stopped struggling now, and I pray silently to any powers that may be listening that he's not dead. He can't be dead.

I can't see the man's face, but he seems to be weighing up the options. After about a minute, he slowly lowers the knife. I sigh, and relax slightly, and that is my fatal mistake. Because as quick as lightning, the man brings up his weapon and again and send it down towards Faro's heart.

There is a dull thud as the knife hits home.

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**Reviews are always very much appreciated :D**

**xxx**


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**So here we go, the next chapter! Up later than I would have liked, but January has been a busy month for me! I turned eighteen (how scary is that?!) and received two more replies from Universities! Somehow, I've actually managed to receive an offer from this fabulous English and Creative Writing degree course at the University of London! Eep! I got a reply from Exeter, my favourite, as well, but I didn't get on to the course I wanted D: However, they did offer my a place on a different course at the Cornwall Campus! Which actually, ironically, shares facilities with the University Sapphire's mum goes to in this fic XD Fancy that? So I'm going down to have a look at that at some point! Also, I'm going on a Creative Writing holiday in St Ives next week with my friends, as the Creative Writing trip at school was cancelled. So hopefully inspiration will flow from there! If anyone wants to know anything about the area, or wants photos of something taken, let me know in a review or a PM or an email before I come back home on the 24th of February, and I'll try to find out/take photos for you! :D Anyway, on with the chapter and I hope you like it! Sorry for keeping you in suspense for so long, but I have three fics on the go at the moment, as well as a joint Death Note one, so I've been doing a bit of juggling XD**

**This chapter is dedicated to the fabulous** _Trapped In Narnia_**,** _The Big Hosepipe in the Sky_** and** _Guest_**. Thank you all so much for taking the time to review!**

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**_Chapter Eighteen_**

Blood blossoms up from the wound, drifting through the water, coiling up towards the distant surface like the coils of a translucent snake.

The knife is lodged deep in flesh, solidly wedged into the vulnerable material.

I stare with wide eyes, feeling light headed. _This is not happening…this can't be happening…_

Slowly, the man falls forwards, sliding off of the knife with a sickening squelch. His body falls through the water in slow motion, drifting down towards the seabed where he finally comes to rest, his hair drifting around his face.

"Sapphire…" Faro's voice is faint, but it's full of concern. He raises his head to look at me, taking in my face. "Sapphire, are you alright?"

I slowly look down at my right hand, which is still holding the knife, and manage to prise my fingers open, so that the knife falls down to join the dead Mer man lying on the sand. His eyes are open. They stare, but they see nothing, and the blood is still drifting through the water, the blood…

"Sapphire!"

My head jerks up. Faro is shaking me roughly. Thankfully it seems that he still has some strength left in him.

"Sapphire, say something!"

"F-Faro…" I manage to stammer. "You…you're hurt!"

"It's nothing." He shrugs, tossing his head proudly. "Just a scratch."

"Don't be an idiot." I'm talking to myself as well as him now. I mentally shake myself. Faro's bleeding; there's no time to shut down now. I'll lock my horror and guilt away for later. "Let me help you."

"It's nothing, I told you-"

"Shut up." I say, and the power in my own voice unnerves me. But he does as I say, falling silent more through surprise than anything else. I dive down and grab the knife I dropped, despite the small shudder that goes through me when I touch it. I begin to cut through the material of my wetsuit, until I have a long strip. The main cut is along Faro's arm. It looks jagged and painful, so I try to be gentle as I wrap the strip of wetsuit around it and tie it with a strand of kelp. There's a gash on his chest as well, his tail also, but they're both smaller, and besides, I don't know how I'd tie wetsuit around them. A bruise is blossoming on his cheek. I don't know how much blood he's lost, but he looks paler than usual.

"You're hurt as well." He says, after I've finished examining his injuries. We're sitting in the shadow of a cave by then, hopefully out of sight of any approaching figures. I've hidden the bodies and taken their weapons. If I imagined that they were rocks or something inanimate, it made it easier. Slightly.

"It's nothing serious." I shake my head

"Your throat." He insists, reaching out and gently trailing a finger along the bruises left by the first man.

"Just bruises." I say, although for a moment my throat feels strangely tight. "Nothing serious."

"I'd kill him." He says angrily, his eyes blazing. "If you hadn't already finished the job."

I somehow manage to crack a grin. "I told you I could look after myself, didn't I?"

He manages a smirk. "I think that my manly presence definitely helped."

"You weren't anywhere near me!"

"But I emit an aura of strength…"

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. Come on, Faro, I totally saved your bacon there!"

He sighs, raising his hand in mock defeat. "Fine, fine; you can look after yourself. And as for my bacon, I'll have you know, Sapphire, that I am not the meat of one of your pigs."

I manage a small laugh, and he smiles weakly before suddenly reaching out and crushing me against him in a tight hug. I'm momentarily surprised, but after a moment I relax into him, resting my head against his shoulder.

"What's this in aid of?" I murmur.

"I just…um…well…I was just…anxious that something might happen to you back there. I mean, I know it wouldn't, we me around to defend you, but…um…it might have. " He mutters against the top of my head.

"Well…I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you." I manage to reply. I feel his hand brush against my shoulder. Is he stroking my hair? That's definitely new, but I kind of like it.

"Of course you don't. How would you live in a world without my abundance of charm and wit?" he says, his voice teasing. I smile again, this time with less effort. I'm glad that we're still able to hold onto some essence of normality after what just happened.

"Stay here." I say after a few more seconds. "Stay safe and out of sight."

He frowns, pulling away and looking down at me. "Wait, what? Why?"

"I'm going to find Mordowrgi."

"You think I'm going to let you swim off…without me?" he stares at me in disbelief.

"You're injured. You've lost a lot of blood. That's a deep cut, Faro. And the others are still bleeding."

"I'm fine, Sapphire!" he insists fiercely, although his grip on my arms is weak. "And come on," he tries to smile again, but his eyes are worried, "haven't we established that you need my aura of strength to protect you?"

"You have to." I say seriously, my lips not even twitching. "Faro…" I sigh. I don't want to say this to him, but I know I'm going to have to. I can't let him come with me and risk him getting killed, not when he's like this. "Faro, the way you are now…I have to be fast. And undetectable."

His eyes harden. "You think I'll slow you down? Me slow _you_ down? I could still swim faster than you; you're still cleft."

The ugly word cuts deep and I feel my lips tighten. "Not when you're bleeding out as we talk! Stay here and don't you _dare_ come after me! We've wasted enough time as it is, and we haven't got any left to argue!" I turn and swim out of the cave before he even has time to respond.

"Sapphire!" He's following me. I grit my teeth, going to snap something back at him…and that's when I see the dolphin.

It's the same dolphin who gave us the directions a while back, the one who heard it from the shoal of mackerel. Her name is Sawya, she told us back when we last met her. She swims over to us, butting my hand with her nose and sending a wave of communication through me.

_Friend of Ingo!_ _I thought I'd never find you! I came to help you, I did not want you to face these Mer alone…_

_Sister! _I throw my arms around her, so glad to see her that I almost cry. _I need your help, please! Faro is injured, he needs healers…could you carry him back to those who can help him?_

She hesitates. _But what of you, sister? Will you not come with us?_

_No_. My voice is determined. _No. I have to find my brother._

_But sister-_

_I am not a child anymore. I have to do this myself. It has to be me._

Dad is not here anymore to sacrifice himself for us. Conor isn't here to tell me that it's alright, that he'll look after me. And Faro is injured, too weak to help me. So it's my turn to be the protector. My turn to be the older sibling. My turn to save my little brother.

"Faro." I turn to him. "Go with her. Go back and tell Brytin and the others where we are."

His eyes widen. "No! Sapphire-"

"Yes!"

He stares at me, his eyes lost, his confident, cocky front beginning to crack slightly.

"Faro, I have to save Mordowrgi. He's my brother. And if I don't, then who will?"

"_We _will," he whispers. "Together. Like we always do. Sapphire, come on…" But I can see in his eyes that he know I am right. He's too weak to continue.

"Go." I say gently, and reluctantly, he climbs onto Sawya's back.

"Sapphire…" he whispers again, his voice so soft I can barely hear it, and I know how hard this is for him, to be the weak one, for once, for me to be protecting him. For him not to be the one riding off into danger, but to be the one returning to the troops; the messenger, not the warrior. I can see how he hates it, but what else can I do? He'll die if he comes with me.

"Go." I say once more, before turning and beginning to swim away from him, towards one of the entrances to the labyrinth of caves, the knives I took from the dead Mer tied around me on a makeshift belt. I can feel his gaze on me, burning into my back until I vanish into the entrance of the caves and the darkness consumes me.

-x-

Black.

Pitch black.

It's as dark as those nights when there are no stars, and the moon's hidden behind a cloud, so hidden that you can't even see a glint of silver from behind the blackout curtains of the sky. These are the nights when you can hear everything, when the air's so still that you can hear each hiss of the waves, the clink of each pebble that's sucked down the shore and into the depths, the chirps of the crickets on the hot summer nights. These are the nights when even I'm too scared to venture down into the cove, because the sea is as black as the sky, reflecting the oblivion of the heavens like a colossal mirror. When you're far enough along the path and have your back to the land, you can see nothing but eternal nihility, a great, gaping void in which one small step will send you tumbling down into the blackness, only for you to found the next day with a broken neck, unless the waves suck you away out of sight and out of mind.

I move through waters so black they might as well be tar, my right arm stretched ahead, blindly groping for some kind of purchase, some indicator that I'm traveling in the right direction. If it were not for my left hand on the wall of the tunnel, I'm scared that I might have completely lost all sense of direction, but at least this way I know I'm the right way up. I can feel panic beginning to set in; an invisible hand is gripping my lungs, making it hard to breathe, my head is swimming my whole body is trembling. White hot pangs of icy fear shoot through me every few seconds and every now and then I have to stop and catch my breath, to try and calm myself down. I try not to think about what's waiting for me at the end of this tunnel and just focus on finding my way there, but it's hard. What was I thinking? How can I ever expect to get past a full grown Mer man who is called the _Seabull_? What am I, crazy? Why didn't I just wait for back up? Why didn't I go back with Faro, come to that? Surely they'll wouldn't really hurt Mordowrgi, would that?

_They would. And you know it Sapphire. The longer you take, the more likely it is they'll kill him. You know that, don't you? Mortarow isn't exactly famed for his patience, is he?_

I try to reassure myself, but the fear still thrums through me. Suddenly, my grasping left hand runs out of wall. I flail blinding in the darkness, biting my tongue to keep myself from screaming. _Calm down, Sapphire. Stay calm. Remember when you were finding your way to the assembly chamber for the first time? It's the panic which causes you to get into trouble._

I try to reassure myself, but I'm so scared, more scared than I've possibly ever been before in my life. There's no assembly chamber down here, no safe haven. No Faro to guide my way, to be waiting for me at the end of the tunnel. I'm not sure, but I think I'm crying. Crying salt tears into salt water, alone and lost in the dark, consumed forever by the rock labyrinth which seems to be closing in around me. My heart is practically bursting out of my chest I'm so afraid, and I wonder to myself if someone can die from fear.

All at once, a memory drifts, unbidden into my head.

_I'm six years old, gap toothed, my knees and elbows covered in scabs from slipping in the rock pools. I'm climbing down to the cove with Dad, when I reach for a handhold that crumbles beneath my fingers and I feel myself lose my footing and slip. This is the fear I felt then, the fear of nothingness, of plummeting into the unknown. One hand clings to a root while all the other can do is freewheel in the air, grasping, reaching for something that isn't there. I'm scared, I'm so scared I can hear my heart thumping in my ears. My madly waving hand snatches hold of something and I hang there, clinging to my purchase like a monkey to a tree branch, too scared to move, too scared to breath, so scared that the tears are running down my cheeks and sobs are heaving in my chest._

_And then Dad's voice calling up from below me. "I'm here, Saph, I'm here. I'll catch you if you fall. But you're not going to fall, are you? You know these cliffs, Sapphire. And you can't hang there forever. Reach with your foot, your left foot. There's a rock you can support yourself on. But you've got to move Sapphire."_

_"I can't!" I sob, still clutching the root, my life line. "I can't Dad! I'm too scared!"_

_"No you're not." His voice is calm. "You're the bravest girl I know, Sapphy. You can do this."_

_"But I can't! I'm not brave! I'm frightened!"_

_"The bravest people of all, Sapphy, were those who carried on, even though they were frightened. And I know you're brave. You have to move Saph."_

_Dad was always right. And if he said that I was brave, then I could be brave. So slowly I edged my foot onto the rock and one movement after another, I made my way down that cliff and reached the warm golden sand below._

I open my eyes and I'm back, floating in the darkness of the cavernous tunnels. But I think I've stopped crying now. _You have to move, Saph. _I slowly move my left foot to the side and there I find the safe purchase of the rock. I edge back towards it and manage to follow the curve of the tunnel with my hand. I rest for a moment, recovering from my panic, and for a moment I think I hear Dad's voice in my head.

_I'm here Saph. I'm here._

I begin to move again, into the blackness of the tunnels. The bravest people of all were those who carried on, even though they were frightened. And I'm the bravest girl Dad knows.

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**Reviews, as ever, are always very much appreciated :) xxx**


	19. Chapter Nineteen

**Hello wonderful people! Thank you so much for all of your lovely reviews! I'm sorry I've been so sparing on chapters, but I've had exams D: And I have even more exams coming up, which means this could be the last I see of you for a little while, but I'll try and update when I can. And when my mum's not turning off my internet. Boooooo! Well anyway, I'll get on with the chapter then XD There is a confrontation afoot! Not of the Les Mis kind XD**

**This chapter is dedicated to** _Gracelet_**,** _RaisingFlorida_**, **_Smoochynose_ **and** _NitnatRide_**. Thank you all so much for your reviews!**

**The new cover is a photograph by Elena Kalis (text was added in by me on Polyvore). I actually just found out that Elena's beautiful photos were used on the new book covers for the series, including **_**Stormswept**_**! :D**

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_**Chapter Nineteen**_

I feel around in the darkness, examining the rock walls with my fingertips. From the feel of things, the tunnel splits into four, including the way I've come. What do I do now? Which way do I go?

"Hello?" I whisper into the darkness of the tunnel. If I was on land, I'd expect my voice to echo, but here it seems small and weedy, as if the darkness is compressing it. "Is anyone there?" I whisper again, thinking of the small glowing creatures which resided inside the tunnels to the Assembly Chamber. "Can you hear me? I need to find my brother, Mordowrgi…please…I'm a friend of Ingo…"  
I wait, still cocooned in the blackness, hoping against hope that something will hear me. But the second stretch away and nothing changes, the blackness stretched on in all directions until…

A glimmer.

A glimmer of greenish light in the left hand tunnel. Slowly, more lights begin to appear, leading down the tunnel like Ariadne's thread in the labyrinth of the minotaur.

"Thank you." I whisper, unbelievable relief filling me. "Thank you so much."

They don't reply, but for a moment they shine more brightly. I begin easing myself down the passage, using the rocky floor to pull myself along. I break more than one fingernail, and my fingertips are cut and bleeding by the time I reach the end of the passage, but I've finally reached some kind of destination. The faint light of the worm-like creatures only illuminates the space a meter or so in front of me, but the water feels different. I've reached some kind of underwater grotto of gargantuan proportions. I can feel the empty space stretching out in front of me like a cavernous mouth, waiting to swallow me whole. I inhale deeply for a moment, trying to steady my nerves, and lightly rest my hand on the knife strapped to my side, although I am exceedingly reluctant to have to use it again.

"Thank you," I whisper softly to my luminous rescuers, before beginning to feel my way around the wall of the cave, pressing myself against its rough surface. A very faint glow follows me around the wall, for which I am thankful. It's slightly lighter in here than in the tunnels, and when I crane my head back and look up, I realise why; there are small hole in the roof of the cavern; not big enough to swim through, but big enough to admit light. And the reason why the cave is so dark is because the faint light trickling through the gaps is silver in colour. Moonlight. Worry suddenly flits through me. It's night time, and I left home at what, half nine in the morning? Ten? Great. Even if I do get back alive, Mum will still have been worried sick. And I'm probably going to be in a lot of trouble. And Conor will _kill_ me. I wince, and decide to focus on the matter at hand. I'll deal with the human world if –when- I return to it.

And that's when I hear the wail.

I know that kind of wail from living with Rowan. It's a child's wail, and it speaks of misery, discontent, fear…

My sisterly urges kick in in full force and I begin to swim as fast as I can towards the noise, one hand making sure I don't stray from the wall, my legs kicking with as much power as I can muster.

"How touching."

The voice echoes around the cave, and I freeze, my eyes widening.

"No, really, it is _sweet_. A sister's love for her brother. Even if you are both abominations."

I feel my hand curl into a fist. "Look who's talking." I snap back, turning to try and locate the source of the voice. "You're the one kidnapping babies."

"A baby. That baby, like you, is polluting the Mer with foul, human blood."

I think I see a shadow flitting through the water to my far left, and press myself further back against the wall. "Who are you to call anyone foul? The only foul person I see here is you."

"Me?" He lets out a deep, ominous chuckle. "Says the _human_. How many wars did you start today, girl? How many animals did you enslave? How many oceans did pour oil into?"

"Don't you speak to me of war, and enslavement and killing!" My hands are still shaking, but more with anger than fear now. "How many Mer did you murder today, Mortarow? How many dolphins did you slaughter? How many fathers did you _stab in the back_?"

There is a ringing silence. I can feel the white hot rage burning inside of me like liquid fire, like lightning cracking through my veins.

"I didn't kill the dolphin." He finally says, his voice slightly subdued, and I hope that something I've said has finally hit home. "You and the Mer you fooled into following you…they gave Ervys no other choice!" It appears that my hopes are in vain. "You manipulated that dolphin into dying for you; it's your fault. Don't try and pass your sins onto me, human!" He snarls.

"Evrys is dead. And you're all hiding in caves, running scared. Your days are numbered, Mortarow. You know that sooner or later, your guerrilla tactics are going to stop working. Why don't you just give my little brother back to me, and we'll both leave, peacefully. No one's died yet, not this time. It's not too late to walk away." I try and keep my voice as steady and reasonable as possible. It's worth a try…anything's worth a try.

"Don't you try and confuse me with your human words and your counterfeit offers of peace." He hisses. "Your 'gorilla' tactics mean nothing to me. I am Mer, not one of your primal cousins!" I can practically hear his chest puffing out with pride and indignation.

The words '_Then stop acting like one and use your brain!_' try to make their way out of my mouth, but I yank them back in. I have a feeling that wouldn't be a good thing to say if I want to stay alive.

"You have no idea of the extent of my power, do you?" Mortarow continues, and I can hear the smirk in his voice. "You have no idea how much influence I have. I can stretch out my hand and hurt you even once you've passed through the skin." I feel a chill run through my body. "That's right. Imagine how disappointed I was to hear that your little tumble over the cliff wasn't fatal."

The seagull. It was him! He sent the seagull to attack me!

"Why so silent?" He lets out a soft laugh, and I can sense him circling, moving in for the kill like a lion stalking a wounded antelope, a shark sniffing out blood, a minotaur moving in to gore its prey with its sharp horns before crushing it beneath its hooves. I think of the story of the minotaur that we learnt about at school; the curse of Poseidon, god of the sea, upon King Minos for not sacrificing the bull that he promised. Pasiphaë, his queen, forced by Aphrodite to fall in love with the bull, and produce the minotaur in revenge, born from hated and unnatural lust, a curse upon men. The minotaur; half man half beast. What must that be like? To have two natures within one body, both warring with one another, constant conflict. Which are you, the man or the bull? The human or the beast? Civilisation or wildness? Air or fire? Air or water? Girl or Mer? Is that what I am, to Mortarow? A curse upon the Mer?

"You would call me unnatural. You would call me an abomination. You say that I force my way into Ingo, that me and my race are full of hate and anger. But look at yourself, Mortarow. They call you the seabull. I heard a story about a creature half man, half bull, and he was born of hate and anger and curses, and so are you! Ingo is at war with herself, not because of me, because of you! Your hatred has turned you into everything that you despise; you hate those with human blood? You hate humans? If you stood beside the type of humans you describe, the only difference between the both of you would be the tail. The reason Ingo is divided is because of you, the reason Ingo is _hurting_ is because of you! The only abomination in this cavern _is you_! _Shyndys Ingo, goos Ingo, hag dha kas skila hy payn_!"

I know now that I've gone much too far. There's a roar of rage before Mortarow slams into me, smashing me against a column of rock. Pain blazes in my cheek, and I instinctively throw a hand up to protect myself as he charges as me again. Agony explodes in my wrist as I feel something bend in a way it's no meant to bend. The pain is icily hot, so agonising that I choke on the scream which tries to escape my lungs. My head swims and for a moment, I can't breathe, can't think, can't do anything but slowly begin to sink towards the bottom of the cave. But I have to move, so I force myself to inhale, force my legs to kick, to try and get me away because the water is rushing around me as he charges once more, somewhere out in the darkness, and his eyesight is much better than mine. I am swimming blind, a sitting duck. The impact sends me smashing against the rock pillar once more, jarring my wrist and sending a gash down my leg. The pain in my arm is throbbing, twisting my stomach into knots. I wonder, absently, if you can throw up underwater. _No, Sapphire. Focus! He's going to kill you!_ I reach down with my good hand to fumble for the knife. If he charges again, maybe I can wound him with it…

"You say that Ingo hurts?" He snarls from the blackness. "I'll make you hurt. You say that Ingo bleeds? I'll make you bleed. And you say that my hate fuels her pain? So my hate will fuel yours!"

And the water is bubbling again, churning around me as he rushes forwards once more…

"MORTAROW!"

The shout makes me jump, and obviously surprises Mortarow as the impact I'm expecting never comes. But surprise is rapidly replaced by fear as I recognise the owner of the voice.

Faro.

If we get out of this alive, I'm going to hug him, and then kill him.

"So the second abomination finally found his way here." Mortarow sneers. "Come to help your _kerenza __hora_?"

I'm not sure what Mortatow just called me, but from his tone and Faro's growl of anger, I can guess that it was pretty rude. I squint, trying to make out what's going on, and as if they can tell what I want, tiny creatures glow more brightly. In the dim light, I can make out Faro floating a couple of metres away from the hulking form of Mortarow. Even from here I can tell that his wounds are still bad. His injured arm is shaking slightly…but his fists are clenched with anger.

"Don't you dare speak about her like that." He snarls. "And don't you dare ever lay a finger on her or Mordowrgi again."

"And what will you do if I do?" Mortarow replies, his tone mocking.

"I will kill you." Faro says, his voice deadly serious.

Slowly, I begin to make my way through the water, towards them, hoping that Mortarow won't notice. My fingers tighten around the hilt of the knife, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to use it, even to kill dad's murderer. The man before…that was one thing. Then I reacted without thinking, to save Faro. Stabbing someone in the back, however…

"_You_. Kill _me._" Mortarow's laugh is deep and booming, and it makes me shudder. "Good luck, little Mer boy. You haven't got Saldowr here to hide behind anymore. He's not going to last long, is he? An neither, from the looks of things, are you. Your death will be a great blow against that pathetic human lover. And once we send back your head, as well as the girl's, I'm sure my message will be clear. Mer and humans are not meant to mix!"

Faro moves to lash out at him, but ducks back at the last minute as Mortarow unsheathes a curved weapon which shines silver in the light of the moon. A sickle. It's edged with rust. A farmer's tool, lost to the sea years ago; how long has it been rusting down here? But the blade is still sharp, and with all that rust it'll probably give him tetanus as well, if the Mer can get that.

I want to warn him to swim away, as fast as he can. I want him to get out of here, to go anywhere, to leave now because I know that I can't watch him die. Not like Dad.

_Faro…_

Through the gloom, I think I see him turn his head towards me slightly, and although I'm probably imagining it, I think I see him smile.

_I know. _

Before I have a chance to ask him what on earth 'I know' means, there is a soft groan from behind me and I look around. My eyes widen slightly at the sight and an idea begins to form in my mind. I glance in Faro's direction once more and know that he knows what I've seen and that he's thinking the same thing. I take a deep breath, and call out before my fear of failure stops me.

"Mortarow!"

He doesn't look at me, not taking his eyes from Faro, but I see his tail twitch.

"When Ervys killed the dolphin, you were cursed. By following Ervys, by helping him spread fear and hate, by fighting for him, you caused the death Seliko just as much as he did. You cursed yourself. No wonder Ingo rejects you."

"Shut your filthy mouth, human!" He snarls, raising the sickle. He moves closer to me, but still makes sure to keep one eye on Faro. I need to make him lose it completely.

"You say that those with human blood aren't truly Mer!" I call, my voice a taunting, waving red flag. "But the reality is, you're the one polluting the Mer with your hate. You're the one who doesn't belong in Ingo. Ingo accepted me, a human. My recognition pattern is _Friend of Ingo._ But you're nothing but a traitor to your race. Ingo rejects you. She casts you out!"

And with a roar of fury, his control over his temper breaks and he dashes at me, flying through the water, his eyes blazing with hatred, a bull bearing down on the matador…

And that's when I move aside, revealing that the column Mortarow was smashing me against is laced with dark, ominous looking cracks. Something must have hit it once, with some force to weaken it, and Mortarow's attacks have only weakened it still. His smashes into it once more, and the rock _creaks…_ but it doesn't fall.

I back away slowly, my heart pounding fast, as Mortarow round on me, his face battered, but still twisted with loathing. I tried to dance the dance of the matadors and I have failed.

_He's going to kill me. I'm going to die. I'm going to die…_

I raise the knife, but he knocks it from my hand with one swipe of his giant fist. And then his hand moves closer, the fingers open, going to curl around my throat…

"_Sevel, Ingo! Difres dha flehes! Sevel hag distrui…hwans ev gans oll vy kolon._"

The words resonate around the room, seeping through the water, reverberating through the cave walls, echoing through my body, coursing through the very essence of Ingo. Mortarow never reaches me, because the water wraps around him, coiling like almost like rope, before hurling him back against the pillar, smashing him into the stone. There is a rumbling roar, like the clashing of a thousand waves as the column crumbles, chunks of stone falling down from the ceiling. I curl into a ball trying to protect myself, jarring my wrist in the process, but my scream goes unheard in the cacophony of noise. And amidst the rumble of falling stone, I can hear Faro's words, his desperate voice magnified and echoing around us, pounding in my head, the words he found in his mouth when all was lost. He didn't know what to do but his mer-blood did.

_Rise up, Ingo! Defend your children. Rise up and destroy…I wish it with all my heart._

Finally, I realise that the thundering noise has ceased, and that the sound I can hear is just my ears ringing and my own blood pounding in my head. I raise my head tentatively, trying to see through the water, but can't make anything out. The water is full of dust, and the little creatures' light has been extinguished. I hope they're all right, that they're just hiding. I have a lot to thank them for. The moonlight is the only thing illuminating the chamber, but before my eyes can adjust, something grabs my good arm. I yelp and swing wildly at the creature.

"Ow!"

"Faro?"

My heart floods with relief as I hear his familiar laugh.

"Well Sapphire, that certainly went out with a bang, didn't-"

He's cut off as I fling my arms around him tightly.

_Are you trying to hug me or kill me?_ He asks. _Because really, you're chocking me._

I laugh shakily and pull away slightly. "A bit of both. Didn't I tell you to leave with Sawya?"

"Yeah, well. I sent her back to fetch help without me. You really think I'd let you go off to find Mortarow without me? Couldn't have you taking all of the glory, could I?"

My mouth twitches slightly. Same old Faro. "Mortarow?" I say, trying to peer over his shoulder into the gloom.

"Flatter than a stingray." He says in a casual voice, but there's a slightly tremor to it. "Trust me, Sapphire, you don't want to look."

I begin to giggle slightly hysterically, my shoulders shaking. It's a moment before I realise that my giggles have become sobs.

Faro leans closer in the dark, examining my face. "So I finally got to see a human crying, then." He says, grinning slightly.

"Get off!" I choke. "I'm not an attraction in a zoo!"

He smiles slightly, and seems like he's about to say something before a wail interrupts us.

"Come on, Sapphire." He says, taking my uninjured hand. His own hand is shaking slightly, but I don't comment on it. "Time to find Mordowrgi."

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**Thank you so much for all of your reviews and support! I'm so glad that people enjoy my writing and it means so much to me when people take the time to review! Thank you all so much!**

**xxx**


	20. Chapter Twenty

**I know this author's note is long, but it contains info on the sequel and a massive thank you to you all, so I'd appreciate it if you'd read it :) xxx**

**My Lord! A quick update! Just over a week later! Dun daaaah! What can I say? All of your amazingly lovely reviews inspired me XD**

**So here is, what I believe will be, the penultimate chapter of High Tides, which is exciting and also rather heart-breaking, for me anyway. While I'm here though, I just want to take this opportunity to thank you all for everything. This was my third stab at a multi-chapter fic, and it's been, by far my most successful, which is mainly down to you, my readers and reviewers. You are the people who have kept me writing over the course of the last three years, even when I was wailing and banging my head on the table. You are the people who kept following and reviewing this story even when I didn't update for months. And you are people who have given me enough confidence to begin to develop my writing skills and apply for English and Creative Writing. And you are the people who have helped me to get a university place that I didn't think I had a chance in hell of getting. And if I do, by some miracle ever get my own books published, you will have helped me to achieve that dream. And for that I could not be more thankful and more grateful, because you were there when my writing was at its most vulnerable, and you helped me instead of turning away. And all I can really do is thank you from the bottom of my heart.**

**And for those of you who have asked, yes there is going to be a sequel XD It's called ****_Dangerous Waters_****, and I'm hopefully going to start posting it in autumn. I want to try and write most of it over the summer, so that I can update more regularly instead of in the sporadic style that I've been updating this fic XD But I haven't written out a proper plan for it yet, so I'm not promising anything, timing wise! But with a bit of luck, I'll get started on it in the holidays :D**

**Sorry if this chapter's rubbish; it's mainly tidying up loose ends, but things hot up nearer the end :D x**

**This chapter is dedicated to **_ 41_**, **_Arysthae_**, **_Rainwater_**, **_harrypotterfreakhier_** , **_GenesisChi_** , **_BookLuver55 _**and **_cleo_**. Thank you all so much!**

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**_Chapter Twenty_**

We follow the sound of my baby half-brother's cries through a tunnel to the left, which is thankfully wider than the one I entered through. I keep shooting nervous glances at Faro; he looks as composed as ever, but he's paler than usual, and my stomach churns with worry every time I catch sight of his arm. My own wounds, thankfully, aren't as bad as his. The cut on my leg is shallow, more of a scrape, and actually isn't bleeding that much at all. The back of my head is throbbing, but thankfully not bleeding. I managed to cushion it when Mortarow was charging me, so I think the worst I have there is a couple of bruises on one side, and on my cheek. My tongue is bleeding a little; I think I bit the edge of it at one point. By now I'm pretty sure that my arm's broken, but that's not going to kill me imminently, so I'm just trying to ignore it as best I can, even though now and then a particularly sharp jab of pain will go through it and I'll begin to feel nauseous once more.  
_What on earth is Mum going to say…_No. I'll think about Mum later; not here, not now. I'll deal with air problems when Mordowrgi is safe and I'm out of Ingo.

"There there, _babi byhan_…"

Both of us come to an abrupt halt as we hear a rather desperate man's voice from around the next bend in the tunnel.

"It's okay…stop crying…"

"I…I wan' my _mammow_!" I hear a child wail in response, followed by even more desperate crying.

I glance at Faro. So Mordowrgi is definitely alive then.

"We…we'll get you back to your _mammow_ soon, don't you worry." The man says in a rather terrified voice. "Don't worry. We're not going to hurt you. Just…please stop crying…please…just…shut up…"

"Oh for goodness sake, Daveth! I left you alone with him for five minutes!" A woman appears to have entered.

"I'm sorry!" Daveth sounds suitably cowed. "I'm sorry Nessa! I tried jiggling him but he just wouldn't stop crying…"

"Come here, _babi_." Nessa croons in a gentle voice. "Don't worry, this _clopin_ is leaving us now. I'll look after you until we get you back to your mammow. All right?"

Morgodwrgi sniffles slightly, but seems to calm down, so I assume that Nessa has him. "Daveth, go and do something useful, like checking on the situation. We haven't heard anything for a while."

"Fine, fine…" Daveth huffs grumpily, before adding in a low voice; "I wouldn't get too fond of it, Nessa. It's not like he's truly Mer…"

"More than half blood, Daveth." Nessa hisses back, so Mordowrgi can't hear.

"Still divided." He mumbles.

"That may be. But he's still only a child. We might find a way to cure him."

"Maybe…" Silence falls for a moment, except for Mordowrgi's sniffling, so I assume Daveth's left.

"You must be tired, _babi_." Nessa says softly. "I'll sing you to sleep, shall I?"

"My…wan' my _mammow_."

"You'll see her soon, don't worry, _kerensa_. Just close your eyes and have a little sleep…  
_Y'n kosel eur a an gorthuher p'eur an golanes kelyon lent,  
Dhe aga kerrek byw an enys hag kri del jei mos…_"

I glance at Faro again as she begins to sing what I recognise in the human world as an Irish folksong. For fanatical followers, them seem strangely…normal. Apart from the whole argument about Mordowrgi's blood status. Somehow, their normality makes them even scarier.

"_Dyworth pub chi a an penn tir golow dalleth dhe golowi y'n tewal,  
Hag an disliw yeynder bys kelli an stevel tomm hag kosel…_"

If normal people…Mer…can be sucked in by those like Mortarow and Ervys…if normal, kindly Mer can believe that half-bloods, like me, are abominations... that we need to be 'cured'…I shudder slightly at the thought.

_Sapphire. I think Mordowrgi's asleep. If we strike now…_ Faro thinks to me.

I give a tiny nod. _Let's not hurt her. Just tell her that Mortarow's dead, and that…that everything's over and stuff and she might give him up? _

_Or we could take him by force._ Faro grips his knife tightly, although his face looks more pained than angry. It occurs to me suddenly that he probably knows the two of them. _You heard what they were saying about Mer like us._

_No, Faro. We shouldn't sink to their level. I don't like having this weapons as it is. You were the one who told me that the Mer don't use human weapons. The sooner we can get rid of them, the better._

He gives me a long look before sighing. _Fine. Have it your way. Come on, let's go!_

He suddenly moves forwards, into the room around the corner. I follow him, and see a woman with black hair and silvery eyes staring at us in shock.

"Human!" She squeaks in a scared voice, clutching Mordowrgi. "Cleft!"

I feel myself flush slightly, feeling upset that this woman is scared of _me_, and slightly indignant at the 'cleft'. "Look, we don't want to hurt you." I say, holding out my hands in what I hope is a pacifying gesture. "Mortarow is dead. Your leader is gone. All we want is an end to this fighting. We just want to take my brother, and leave. Can you please just give him to us, so we can go on our way?"

"You…you…you're lying!" She squeaks, backing away. "Your kind _lives_ to hurt Ingo! And Mortarow…he…he can't be dead! He can't!"

"Then how are we here?" I say, trying to keep my voice steady. "He tried to kill us, and we stopped him. Look, I know what they've told you about humans, but it's not all true. Yes, some humans are horrible and kill each other and hurt the world, but some humans try to help the seas, and stop the fighting. Are the Mer any different? Look at the fighting going on now! Is this how the Mer are meant to be?"

She chews her lip, giving her head a tiny shake so that her black hair swirls around her face. "You…you…you're a half-blood! And him too! Half-blood's are dangerous…their human blood makes them want to kill us all! You're not…not wanted! Ingo hates you! You want to harm Ingo, harm all of us…" She says, but her voice is much less certain.

"Listen to me. I've made the Crossing of Ingo. The dolphins helped me. I've experience a flight of dolphins…they gave me a recognition pattern…Friend-Of-Ingo. I don't want to hurt you, or Ingo. I just want peace, and my brother back, safe. Please, please just give him to us."

She hesitates for a moment. I hold my breath, hoping against hope that she'll help. She turns to Faro after a moment, her eyes roaming over him searchingly, as if looking for some kind of confirmation.

"We've met before, Nessa." He says in a soft voice. "You were friends with my sister, Elvira once."

"T-that's before I knew what you were…"

"Nessa, she's telling the truth. We don't want to hurt you. Please trust me when I say that. I'll let you see my mind, if it will make you feel better."

Nessa hesitates, watching Faro closely for signs of a trap, before reluctantly nodding. "F-fine. Open your mind to me." Faro nods and her eyes become unfocused as she searches through his thoughts. After a moment or so, she nods in return, looking slightly shaken. "For the dolphins." She says hesitently, holding out Mordowrgi. "And Elvira."

Faro and I both have injured arms, so we're not sure which of us should take him; he's a lot bigger than he was when I first met him; he must be about three now, in human years. Eventually I take him, wrapping both arms around him, but being careful not to exert too much pressure on my left arm.

"Go." Nessa says, her eyes darting around. "Go quickly. I'll…I'll stay here."

"Come with us." Faro says eagerly, and for a second I wonder whether he's eager for her to come to boost our 'ranks' as they were, to prove that not everyone thinks that we're monsters, or because she's very pretty. A wave of jealously floods through me, but I hastily push it away. _Really not the time, Sapphire._

"I can't." She shakes her head. "My little brother is here. I can't leave Daveth."

Faro nods. "Thank you, Nessa. This will not be forgotten."

Together we turn and begin to swim back the way we came.

-x-

The journey back through the tunnels is a nightmare. The worm like creatures show us the way again, but we have to swim back through the cavern where Mortarow's body is lying, back through the tight, claustrophobic shafts which make my heart thrum with fear. And to top it all off, I'm carrying a rather heavy mer-toddler who wakes up half way back and begins to cry because he's scared of the dark, forcing me to give a rendition of _The Fisherman's Night Song_, the English version of Nessa's lullaby.

"_In the calm hour of the evening when the seagulls fly slow,  
To their rocks on the island and cry as they go…_"

I have never tried jiggling a child when in possession of a broken arm before, and I'm not going to start now, and there's not really room to rock him, so I just keep singing as we squeeze through the tunnels.

"_From each house on the headland lights begin to twinkle in the gloom,  
And the pale cold world dwindles to a warm quiet room…_"

When we finally emerge from the tunnel, it's to come face to face with a mass of Mer people who do _not_ look very pleased with us.

"When we said 'Neither of you go charging off'," Brytin says, her arms folded. "We meant it."

-x-

As my wounds aren't really life threatening, the healer simply gives my arm a little help with the healing process, and heals my larger cuts before moving onto those with more pressing injuries. As in life threatening injuries. There is more than one casualty from the battle the Mer were fighting elsewhere, but that battle was put on hold once Sawya arrived. Sweet, lovely Sawya! She went straight to the fighting and told them where Faro and I had gone, which luckily effectively stopped the combat, as we had technically fulfilled the terms of Mortarow's arrangement. She then led a select group of Mer to the tunnel entrance, which they had just been debating whether or not to enter when we emerged. The news of Mortarow's death quickly spread, and many of his followers have given themselves up. It seems that being on the losing side twice was really enough for some of them.  
I know that I should really start heading home, but I just have to wait and see if Faro's okay. Brave Faro, who even though he was injured, refused to leave with Sawya and sent her for help instead, before following me into the tunnels. I've saved his life today, and he has saved mine, and I won't ever forget it. We are bound more than ever now, and I can't return to the Air until I know he's going to be all right. Finally I find him, sitting with a healer a little way away from everyone else. I hover nearby until the healer's finished, before going over to him. "Hello," I say softly, and he looks up and grins at me.

"Hello? Is that all you can say?"

I laugh and hug him. _How's the wound?_

_Healed. It's left an impressive scar though. It makes me look even more dashing than ever._

I smirk. _You never looked dashing to begin with._

_Lies! All lies! _He pulls away and grins at me. _How're you?_

_Better. Arm will take a little while to heal, but it hurts less now. I suppose it may detract some attention from the matter of my whereabouts when I get home._

He stares at me for a moment. _You're going back to the air, then?_

I blink. _Well, of course. I mean…Mum's there, and Conor, and Rowan and Rainbow and Sadie…even Roger. _

_Mordowrgi's here in Ingo._ He reminds me. _And…and so am I._

I feel my heart pinch at the slightly lost look in his eyes, remembering how lonely he must be with Elvira gone. _I'll come back here, Faro, you know I will. I just can't…stay. Not forever. I can't…I can't make that decision. Not yet. Maybe one day…I don't know._

He seems to brighten at this thought slightly. _Maybe indeed. We never know what the future may bring after all, Sapphire._

I smile softly. _I should leave now, really. I think I've been gone for about a day…Conor might have thought up an excuse, but if not Mum'll be worried sick…_

He sighs, but nods. _Fine. Leave now. But promise you'll come back. Come back soon. Promise._

I take his hand and squeeze it tightly for a moment. _I promise._

-x-

A wave of exhaustion washes over me the moment I break through the skin. My stomach growls angrily at me as I stagger through the shallows and onto the beach, exiting the water all together, washed in on the tide like a battered piece of driftwood. I pad through the wet, cloying sand, leaving a line of footprints stretching out behind me, like a shipwreck survivor arriving on a desert island, before stumbling through the dry, powdery sand which sticks to my damp feet, as I make my way towards the cliffs. Somehow I manage to climb up one handed, using the elbow of my left arm to help balance myself, unable to put pressure on the wrist which is beginning to throb hotly again; whatever the healer did to numb the pain is beginning to wear off. After a long, desperate struggle, during which I almost fall down the rock face more than once, I finally haul myself up over the lip of the cliff and onto the prickly grass, wincing at the gorse which stabs at my hands when I attempt to find some kind of leverage to help me haul my tired body further away from the edge. I finally succeed in dragging myself entirely back onto dry land, water running off of my sopping wetsuit and turning the crumbly earth into salty mud. I fall still and roll onto my back, staring up at the sky while I attempt to catch my breath, trying to ignore the shooting stabs of pain in my wrist. It would be easy, so easy just to close my eyes, to lie here forever, listening to the cries of seagulls wheeling overhead, the soft wash of the waves on sand, the lapping of water against rock… _No, Sapphire!_  
I force my eyes open. There will be time for sleeping later. I force myself to my feet, every muscle in my body screaming in protest as I haul myself up with the aid of a nearby granite formation, and begin to stagger toward home, along the dirt trail, the long grass whipping at my legs. I push past the mass of brambles and bracken and emerge on the coastal path. I can see home now in the distance. I try to think about what I'm going to say, but my head is too foggy with pain and exhaustion. I can barely keep my eyes open and am having trouble walking in a straight line. I climb over the stile, and keep moving down the earthen track, hardly noticing the stones digging into my bare feet. Almost there. Almost there. I undo the gate, my hands shaking, and shut it behind me, making my way to the door. I hear Sadie beginning to bark from inside, almost as if she can sense my presence, and the familiar sound fills me with warmth, giving me the strength to move those last few feet and open the door, pushing it open. I step inside the kitchen, and am hit by a whirl of golden fur.

"Down, girl…" I say, and the feeble, cracked quality of my voice shocks me. I glance up and see my reflection in microwave window. I look like a zombie; skin so pale it's almost blue, eyes ringed with dark shadows, my face bruised and battered, my lip swollen, bruises ringing my neck, dark hair plastered to my face and body, matted with seaweed and congealed blood.

Sadie whines and presses her body against my leg. I can feel that she's trembling like mad.

"It's okay girl…" I whisper. "I'm back. I'm home."

"Sadie?" A tired voice calls from further inside the cottage, drawing closer. "What is it girl? Sad-"

Mum breaks off, staring at me as if I'm a ghost. I stare back, not knowing what to do, or what to say.

"Jennie? What's wrong?" Roger enters the kitchen as well, and stops dead in his tracks, just behind Mum, looking at me in shock.

"Sapphire…" He says after a long moment. "What…where…?"

"Mum…Roger…" I say in my cracked, creaky voice. "I'm so sorry…I…I…"

"What on earth happened to you?" Roger says, taking in my battered appearance, his eyes lighting on my swollen wrist. "Your arm…"

"Pretty sure it's broken…" I mumble. "Got smashed against a rock..."

Roger steps forwards as I begin to sway slightly, catching me just as my legs give out.

"Jennie, call an ambulance!" I hear him cry, as the world begins to fade out. Great. I'd never been in a hospital in my life until Mortarow started messing things up. Now I've been in one twice in the last few months. _But that's not the real issue here_, I remind myself as my eyes drift shut. From Mum and Roger's reactions, it hasn't just been a day. Definitely not just a day.

_Just how long _have_ I been missing for?_

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**Reviews, as ever, are greatly appreciated :) xxx**


	21. Chapter Twenty One

**So here's the last chapter of High Tides. I'm actually getting a little weepy; this story has been such a big part of my life for three years, even if I didn't update as regularly as I should. There will be an epilogue after this, which I'm going to try and write now and post at the same time, and you can thank my dad for that idea. The epilogue will be setting up some of the stuff for ****_Dangerous Waters_****. On the subject of the sequel, I'll let you know when I've posted it by adding a temporary note onto the end of this fic, so anyone following this fic will hopefully be notified. Anyone following me will get a notification anyway. If you're interested in reading any of my other Ingo fanfiction while ****_Dangerous Waters_**** is being written, then I have a load of oneshots which you will find on my profile, as well as a multi chapter fic called 'Never Go Back'. I recently started another multichapter fic called 'Twisted Dreams & Broken Things', but whether I continue that or not depends on whether people like it and how many people are interested in it.**

**Thank all once again for reading this story, and thank you so much for your reviews and encouragement. You are all very dear to me, and I wish you all the very best! I will hopefully see you in autumn with ****_Dangerous Waters_****!**

**Dedicated too **_DawnCat2476_**,** _Maraudette98_**,** _ingolover11_**,** _KindaWishIWasAnnabeth_**,** _Olivia Makinson__**,**_ _Guest_** and **alohamiems**. Thank you all so, so much.**

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**_Chapter Twenty One_**

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

The sound is the only thing there is, apart from darkness.

_Darkness in the tunnel, closing in, pressing, all consuming, eat me up, hide me, trap me…_

No. No, I'm not there, not now. This darkness isn't pure black, it's dark red, blood red.

_Blood swirling upwards from the man's back as I remove the knife and he sinks down, down, down into the depths…_

No. I'm not going to think about that either. I had to. I had no other choice and now that's over.

Another sound begins to make its way into my consciousness, apart from the regular beeping. It sounds like a kick drum, thrumming in my ears, _thump, thump, thump. _It takes me a moment to realise that it must be my heart because it's in time with the beeps.

_My heart thumping in my ears as I flail, lost in the maw of the cavern, as Mortarow charges me, ready to kill…_

"Sapphy?"

I recognise that voice, but I cannot put a face to it. It's a woman's voice, sweet, full of honey, full of concern…

"Sapphy, darling, can you hear me?"

My eyes are stiff and sticky, and it takes an effort to open them. It takes even longer for the world to come into focus. I stare around, seeing nothing but a mad blur of colours until finally my eyes settle on a tanned woman with light brown, blonde streaked hair, a woman with kind hazel eyes, a straight nose and lips naturally inclined to smiling.

"Mum?" I manage to croak, but she puts a finger to my lips and holds a glass of water to my mouth. I drink greedily, before resting my head back against the nice cold pillows. "How long have I been gone for?" I finally ask, dreading the answer.

"Four days," she says gently, stroking a tangle of hair back off of my forehead, and I feel myself relax slightly. Four days. That's not that bad. I can try and find an explanation for theat. Better than months- or years. "How are you feeling?" Mum continues, tilting her head to look at me properly.

"Achy," I mumble, which is true; it feels like I have bruises covering every inch of my body.

"I'm not surprised," she replies, moving her hand to lightly stroke my cheek. "You've been through the wars. Can you remember anything that happened?"

I give my head a tiny shake. Best to play dumb.

"Well the coastguard think you were pulled out by a rogue current, or something of the like. You know how dangerous the waters are around here. They think you must have been dragged out, and by the looks of it, you got bashed around on some nasty rocks. You've got a bump on your head, which could be why you don't remember much. From the state of your hands they think you must have been clinging on to a rock for dear life for some time, and somehow managed to find your way back to shore." She takes my right hand and squeezes it. "You've been lucky to escape so lightly."

I glance down at my left arm, which is encased in a bright blue cast.

"Roger chose the colour," she adds, seeing the direction of my gaze.

"Good choice Roger," I murmur approvingly.

Mum smiles slightly, but after a moment her face grows serious. "Sapphy, I want you to promise me something. Please."

I blink and glance up at her again. "What is it?"

"Don't swim alone again. Promise me."

"But Mum-"

"Just promise me. Please Sapphy. I can't…I can't lose anyone else I love." Her eyes fill with tears. "Not to the sea. Not again. Promise me."

I sigh softly, but manage to whisper, "I promise."

"Saph?"

Mum and I both look up to see Conor poking his head around the door. I feel awful when I see his face; he looks like he hasn't slept properly in days. Of course, he knew where I was the entire time; he probably through I'd become Mer, that I'd left them all. It must have been hell for him, knowing where I was, but unable to console Mum and Roger, especially when he hates deceit so much.

"Mum, can I talk to Sapphy, please?" He says, not taking his eyes off of me.

"Of course you can," Mum replies, still holding my hand.

Conor sighs. "Alone, I mean."

Mum blinks, looking surprised, but after a glance at my face, she gives a little nod and gets to her feet. "I'll be outside if you need me," she murmurs, before leaving the room.

Conor slowly moves over to me and sits in the chair she's just vacated. "How are you feeling?" He asks, slightly awkwardly.

"Better than I was." I can't meet his eyes. I feel awful for causing everyone so much hassle, although to be fair I didn't ask for my baby brother to be kidnapped.

"I thought you were gone. That this was it. That you'd chosen." His voice is ever so slightly unsteady.

"If I did chose Ingo, you know I'd tell you. I wouldn't just…"

"Disappear?"

"Yeah." I stare down at my hands.

"Then I thought you might just have lost track of time. Got too sucked in by Ingo time."

"I guess that happened in a way," I reply, "although I didn't really have much choice other than to stay."

"So what happened then?" He says, and when I look up I can see him taking in my battered appearance. "A rogue current?"

I sigh and shake my head. "Mortarow happened, that's what."

"Mortarow?" I can hear the surprise in his voice. "The one who…" His face darkens.

"Yeah. The one who stabbed Dad in the back," I say, slightly bitterly. Even though Mortarow's dead now, the memory of Dad's death is still raw and painful.

"He did this to you?" Conor's voice fills with rage, and I quickly motion for him to be quiet, in case Mum hears him. He nods, trying to calm down, but I can see his fist shaking. "I'll kill him."

"Faro's one step ahead of you there," I say in a slightly shaky voice.

Conor blinks. "How…"

"You don't want to know. It was messy." I must have grimaced at the memory, because Conor only nods. "He's been causing trouble in Ingo for a while, stirring up supporters for his 'pure Mer only' club. And he wanted to get Faro and I out of the way. Remember when I fell off the cliff? That was him. He sent a seagull to attack me."

Conor calls Mortarow something very rude. "So did he attack you when you got to Ingo?"

"No. He kidnapped Mordowrgi and threatened to kill him if Faro and I didn't give ourselves up.

"Sapphire Trewhella, if you're trying to tell me you and Faro exchanged yourselves for that child…"

"Don't be stupid Conor! We weren't just going to give ourselves up! A party of Mer attacked his forces and then Faro and I snuck in on a rescue mission and to cut a long story short, we succeeded."

"Yeah, after you'd been beaten to a pulp! You could have died, Saph!"

"Conor, stop yelling! Calm down!"

He simmers down slightly, but still looks furious with me.

"What was I supposed to do; leave my baby brother in the hands of a man nuttier the squirrel poo?"

"He's not our brother!"

"Is Rowan our sister?"

He hesitates.

"Exactly. Just because he's Mer, it doesn't mean he's not family. He wasn't responsible for Dad leaving us, Con. Dad is responsible for Dad leaving us. Mordowrgi's just a baby. We can't blame him for Dad's actions."

Conor sighs, but doesn't argue, which means that I've won.

-x-

Despite the fact that, as far as most of the world is aware, I've been dragged out to sea by a rip current, clung onto some rocks like human barnacle for four days, and then managed to swim back to shore, life seems to go back to normal fairly quickly. People make a bit of a fuss at first, and give me flowers and chocolate (I'm not complaining about that; a bit of choccie is always welcome) and stuff like that, but after about a week it's yesterday's news. Sadly this applies to my teachers as well, and they're soon wondering why I haven't caught up on the work yet . Apparently being stranded at sea for a good hundred hours or so isn't a good enough excuse.

My family appears to have recovered from it as well, all though I strongly suspect this is a front put on so as not to try and help me settle back into school life, especially which exams approaching _fast_. I go on study leave on the seventh of May, and the week after that my GCSE's begin. Apparently they make take my recent trip out to the sea into 'consideration' when marking my papers, which sounds like a big bonus, but I'm pretty sure I'm still going to fail everything. Fun times. Conor's helping me out as much as he can, but his A2 exams start in June, so he has revision of his own to do. Rainbow's a massive help too. Because she's home-schooled, she's taking her exams with me, at the big senior school in St Pirans; my tiny school in Senara doesn't have the room. We're always round each other's houses these days, revising together, although she's a lot better at it than me. She's had to develop a system where I get a piece of chocolate as a reward for every ten minutes I can spend focusing on work, otherwise I drift off into a daydream, staring out of the window at the sea. I try to work, to please her and to try and stop her worrying about me. I keep getting little anxious sideways looks from her, the sort I get from Mum, and I know that she thought that I was dead as well, when I disappeared. I feel even worse when I notice that she appears to be more afraid of the sea than ever, not even going down onto the beach any more. I feel awful for worrying her, and wish more than anything that I could tell her the truth, but I don't know if that would scare her even more. Besides, the secret of the Mer is not mine to give away. And on top of that, she'd probably think that I was off my rocker.

Speaking off the Mer, I haven't see Faro since the day I came back from Ingo. It's too hard to sneak away these days, what with Mum, Roger, Conor and Sadie all keeping an eye on me. Sadie's slept on my bed every night since I came back home, and howls every time I leave the house, even if I'm just going to school. At least she isn't ill again, like when I was twelve; if I'd have done that to her again, I'm sure she would have died. And when I'm finally trusted enough to stay home on my own, I'm normally in change of Rowan, and like hell am I going to leave a month old baby on her own. It's not until study leave has begun and I'm on my way back from Rainbow's that I finally have an opportunity. Mum's out at a check-up with Rowan. I called her to tell her that I was on my way home, as she often monitors my whereabouts these days, but when I finally arrive back at the cottage I find that Conor and Roger have gone out to collect some diving gear from Sennen, or so the note that they've left says. I quickly dump my bike in the garden, and run along the costal path until I find the bushes that hide the secret track from sight. I wriggle through them, and then I'm darting down the trail, through the brambles and gorse and the long grass, then over the cliff edge and down, scrambling over the boulders and rocks until I reach the sand. I squint against the afternoon sun, and feel a grin spread over my face when I see a familiar figure sitting on the rocks, waiting, and that's when I start to run. I quickly reach the boulders and scramble up as best I can with my arm in a cast, although thankfully it's been broken for over two weeks now, and it's healed to the extent that I can put some weight on it.

"Sapphire, what on earth is that strange thing you have on your arm?" Faro says as I finally reach the top of the rock and begin to move along them towards him. "Human fashions are extremely odd…"

"It's a cast, you ninny," I say, flopping down next to him. "Because the bone's broken. It helps it heal correctly."

"Hmm…" He takes my arm and examines it. "You mean your healers can't heal it?"

"We don't have healers like you do. We have doctors and nurses. They set the bone and then the body heals itself."

"But it's taking ages!"

"We can't accelerate healing like the Mer can." I shrug.

He smirks. "Not even with all your wonderful human technology?"

I resist the temptation to push him off of the rock, and ignore the jibe. "How are you feeling anyway?"

"Right as ramen," he replies with a grin.

I snort, and he looks offended.

"What? What did I say?"

"As right as rain! Ramen is a type of Japanese food."

"What is 'Japanease'?"

"Japan is a country in Asia, which is a continent."

"Ah, more of your human labels? Where does it say on the 'continent' that it is 'Asia'? Surely all land is one?"

"Most people don't think it is one though. They say that this bit of land here belongs to them and name it, and other people say a different bit of land is theirs and that it belongs to them, and then they draw lines on maps to separate the land and then all of the land has names."

"How can you draw line that separates one piece of land? Humans are so arrogant, believing that land can 'belong' to them. How can something as puny as a human own something as ancient and powerful as Norvys?"

"_You think you own whatever land you land on…the earth is just a dead thing you can claim…but I know every rock and tree and creature has a life, has a spirit, has a name…_" I sing, grinning, unable to stop myself.

He blink at me. "What song is that?"

"_'Colours of the Wind'_ from a film called 'Pocahontas'. You reminded me of it for a moment."

"What is your human 'film' about?"

We've had the whole 'film' explanation already, so I don't have to go into detail on that aspect.

"It's about humans from England landing in America and claiming that it belongs to them, even though there are already people living there. A native American girl called Pocahontas tries to settle things peacefully. It's a good film; I watched it a lot as a child. She tries to teach one of the Englishmen about Norvys."

"Well she was obviously a human with sense."

I smile slightly. "Yes she was, although I don't know how true to history the film is; Pocahontas lived over four hundred years ago."

"Did the Englishmen stay in this 'America' then?"

I nod and sigh softly. "Yes, they did. Lots more people came, from France and Spain and the Netherlands. The Native American populations were massively reduced and they had a lot of their rights taken away. I don't know the details though; I don't know much about American history."

Faro snorts. "Humans. All they can do is destroy."

"That's not true!" I say, sitting up straight. "Now you sound just like one of Mortarow's supporters!"

A deep flush spreads over Faro's face, and it's a moment before I realise that he is actually ashamed of what he said. "I'm sorry, Sapphire. You are right. I should not be prejudiced. I know not all humans are bad."

I nod, before giving him a smile to show that I forgive him. We sit in comfortable silence for a moment, gazing out across the sea, watching the frothy white waves dance.

"I should get back soon," I say after a little while. "I'm not really meant to be here…"

Faro blinks, turning to look at me. "Why not? Who says?"

"My Mum, and I think she has good reason; I did go missing for four days. She's asked for me not to come down here alone. I can probably come after my exams though, if Conor agrees to come with me…"

"Does he have too?" Faro frowns. "Can't you slip away? It won't be the same if Conor's here…"

I sigh. "Faro, I made a promise not to swim here alone again. And I know that I'm not alone with you, but Mum doesn't, and if she catches me she'll be so upset…"

"But if you're careful, she'll never know…" He reaches out and grabs my hand. "Come at night, or when she's not there…just…please come. Alone."

"Faro…" I protest, squeezing his hand, "I can't, I-"

Before I can finish the sentence, he slips and arm around my waist and pulls me towards him. My breath catches in my throat as he puts one hand on my face, brushing a strand of hair off of my cheek, before guiding my face closer towards his. He closes his eyes, and I quickly close mine as well, my heart thumping and my stomach doing the rumba. I wait with trepidation for our lips to touch but before they do, I feel my nose bump into his.

"Ow!" We break apart, both of us rubbing our noses, and before we know it we're both laughing, clutching each other for support. That's a relief; I'm glad that things didn't get really awkward; that wouldn't have been great.

"Sorry…" Faro chuckles, looking ever so slightly embarrassed. "That has certainly never happened before. But uh…I take it you were…urm…well…"

"Okay with kissing you?" I offer, and he grins. "Yes I most definitely was. So I take it that you…urm…"

"Like you?" His grin widens. "Maybe a little bit. Definitely not as a 'little sister'."

"That's good to know…" I trail off, smiling up at him. "So…"

"So…did you want to try that again?" He asks, still grinning down at me.

"Does this answer your question?" I tilt my head up and close my eyes again as he leans in once more, this time taking care to tilt his head to the side to avoid any nose collisions.

His lips are soft and gentle, and he tastes like salt and the promise of summer. His arm tightens on my waist and his other hand slips up to cup the back of my neck, and I feel my heart speed up in my chest, an electric thrill running through me. This is better than flying with dolphins or speeding through currents; no current has ever made me feel this alive, like lightning has struck every nerve in my body, sending white hot heat tingling through me. Faro kisses me more deeply, more desperately, and I can feel all of my thoughts unravelling, and all there is him and me; it's like the feeling I get in Ingo, when everything is far away, when my family are blurry images in the back of my mind, where nothing matters but the songs of the sea. This is like a song, like the songs of Moryow where every note is impossibly sweet, impossibly perfect, when it's so beautiful it cuts you too the core, and I could stay here, singing our song in perfect harmony forever. But I know, deep inside, that I can't.

Gradually we break apart, both of us breathing deeply. He smiles that familiar smile, running a hand down over my shoulder before kissing my nose lightly and making me laugh.

"Well that wasn't that bad, I suppose…" he says nonchalantly, smirking, making me swat at his arm. He laughs and moves out of the way in time, before flicking up his tail and splashing me. I shriek with shock at the cold water, before trying to swat him again, but once more he easily dodges, still laughing at me.

I laugh as well, but after a quick glimpse at my watch, the laughter fades. "I should really be getting back…" I sigh, glancing over at him.

"You don't have too…" he says, taking my hand again, his voice inviting, reeling me in like a fish on a line, as alluring as the sons of Ingo. "You could come back with me…stay in Ingo…"

For a moment, I'm tempted, my head still full of the taste of salt on my lips, but instead of diving into the waves I find myself shaking my head. "I can't. We talked about this Faro. I have responsibilities here. I can't make that choice yet. You know I can't."

He sighs, and I can tell that he wants to argue, but after a couple of deep breaths he seems to get himself under control. "Fine…but come back soon, Sapphire. When you can. And don't bring Conor."

If we're going to be doing some more of what we were just doing, I _definitely_ won't be bringing Conor. "Okay. I'll come when I can. When exams are over."

He nods, squeezing my hand. "When exams are over."

He leans in once more, and I close my eyes in eager anticipation-

"WHAT ARE YOU _DOING_?! _GET OFF OF MY SISTER_!"

Faro and I jerk apart, turning around to see a horrified Conor staring at us.

I glance at Faro, who's beginning to chuckle slightly under his breath, and elbow him, hard. "Conor…uh…what are you doing here?" I say, brushing my rather tousled hair back behind my ears and trying to look innocent.

"Don't play innocent with me, Sapphire!" He says, looking furious, storming over to the rocks. "Just what do you think you were doing?"

"She was kissing me," Faro says, grinning all over his face. "She's actually an all right kisser, your sister ."

_Only all right?_

_You'll get better with practise._

_Oh, thanks!_

_You're welcome._

"Well…well she shouldn't have kissing you," Conor says angrily, folding his arms. "You're not even the same species!"

"Hasn't stopped humans before," Faro says lazily, looking down at Conor.

"Saph, get down here. We're going home, before Roger starts to wonder where-"

"Where you both are?"

We all look up and see a man walking towards us, his arms, like Conor's, folded. Conor and I glance at each other in horror; we were so wrapped up in the argument that we can't have noticed him climbing down the cliff…

Roger comes to a halt in front of the rock, and quickly spin around to look for Faro. He's gone, so he must have seen Roger…but how much did Roger see of him? Maybe he didn't notice him, just thought he was a funny shaped rock…

"Your friend dived off into the water, Sapphire," Roger says in a cold voice, looking up at me. "And yes. I did see what he was."

_Oh God. Oh my God…_ I quickly scramble down off the rock and onto the damp sand, chewing my lip like craze. If Roger tells Mum…then we'll have to explain about Dad…

"This certainly seems to explain a lot," Roger continues, staring out over the sea, looking ever so slightly shaken. "Seeing you underwater all those years ago…you knowing about the tidal surge…all the times you've disappeared in the cove…" He gulps. "Just what are you, Sapphire? Are you…are you a mermaid?"

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. In truth I'm not sure what to say.

"No," Conor says, answering for me, to my relief. "No she's not. But both of us have Mer blood. Like our father."

Roger stares at him for a moment, before slowly nodding. "So Mathew…"

"Dad fell in love with one of the Mer. Seems to run in the family…" Conor says, ever so slightly bitterly. I try not to blush at that, and quickly look down at the sand.

"Like the first Mathew Trewhella," I quickly add. "The one that ran off with the Zennor Mermaid."

"Right." Roger looks like he's beginning to wonder what on earth he's married into. "So…he's alive?"

"Not anymore," Conor says softly. "He died almost two years ago."

"Oh." Roger says, and I detect a note of relief in his voice; that was before he married Mum. "I'm sorry."

Conor just shrugs.

"Come on," Roger says, changing the subject. "We need to get off this beach before the tide comes in. You can explain this all to me over a cup of tea." He glances from Conor to me. "And believe me, both of you have got a _lot_ of explaining to do…"

All of us begin to walk up the beach, towards the cliffs. But just before I'm about to climb, I think I hear someone call my name.

_Saaaaaaaapphiiiiiiiire…_

I turn around, staring out across the sea. It isn't the voice of Moryow, nor is it Faro. It's a voice I've never heard before, and it makes the hairs on the back of my neck prickle. A sudden cold gust of wind sends goosebumps down my arm; I shudder and zip up my jacket right to the top. But the cold feeling stays with me all of the way up to the top of the cliff, and when I turn to look out over the sea, all I can see stretching into the distance are storm clouds.

* * *

**I really hope you enjoyed this chapter; I was freaking out when I was writing it because it's a) so, so long, the longest I've ever written and b) I'm terrified of letting everyone down by having a rubbish last chapter. Also, kissing scene…sorry if that's not very good! My romantic experiences have all kind of sucked, I'm afraid; the only guy I've kissed was very lovely, but a very bad kisser. So I was going on accounts of some friends, as well as online research XD**

**As ever, reviews would very much be appreciated xxx**


	22. Epilogue

**I could have left it there, but I wanted to set the scene for the sequel, and my dad suggested that I wrote an epilogue. So this is it! I hope you enjoy! :D**

**For the final time, reviews would be ever so much appreciated.**

**Dedicated to everyone who has ever read or reviewed or favourited, or followed this story. You are the best. **

**For all of my reviewers: **_xgrinx__**,**__Jamesstarklover13_**_, _**_MagicStar28_**_, _**_WingCommanderVinyaya_**_, _**_CityGirl13_**_, _**_Mbali97_**_, _**_XxSugarMinuetxX_**_, _**_LollyMau__**,**__ FlyHigher__**,**__ nightwatchman707_**,** _12345__**,**__ SPLASH__**,**__ TheLiningIsSilver__**,**__MaryandMerlin__**,**__ elviracar128__**, **__whirlindervishes__**,**__La__**, **__Inkheart17__**, **__annabeth__**, **__pingo9191__**, **__107__**, **__Ellie__**,**__ ayamey222__**,**__ Elsie__**, **__Swifty14__**, **__Darling Summers__**, **__sweetlyaddictive__**,**__ Kiki__**,**__ hhh__**,**__ anon__**,**__ Kera__**,**__ Julia-xo__**, **tinypotter__**,** Deamonslayer576__**,**__ Aymeliea__**,**__ Lexa__**, **__Sapphy Blue_**,** _Reckless-Reason-and-Kitty_**,** _Cat Dracula_**, **_starwarsgrl96_**,** _Jezel Redfern_**,** _catspajamas12_**, **_dragonett3_**, **_annabethsapphireKatissgaleru_**,**_I Am Pure Awesomeness__**, **__maybei'mdreaming__**,**__ MortalDarkDevices__**,**__ whoshalljudgeangels__**,**__ onlinegirlgoing4god__**, **__Ingo lover__**, **__silly ole' me__**, **__Bowoobiter__**, **__BlueLeopard__**, **__Trapped In Narnia_**,** _The Big Hosepipe in the Sky_**, **_Guest_**, **_Gracelet_**,** _RaisingFlorida_**, **_Smoochynose_**,** _NitnatRide41_**, **_Arysthae_**, **_Rainwater_**, **_harrypotterfreakhier_** , **_GenesisChi_** , **_BookLuver55_**, **_cleo_**,**_ DawnCat2476__**,**__ Maraudette98__**,**__ ingolover11__**,**__ KindaWishIWasAnnabeth__**,**__ Olivia Makinson__**,**__ Guest_** and **_alohamiems_**_._**

**You are all fabulous and I love you all so much.**

**(And if I've left anyone out, I'm really, really sorry, I tried to include everyone!)**

* * *

**_Epilogue_**

_The night is dark and stormy; outside the cottage, the wind is howling like a lonely wild wolf, with enough sadness to break your heart. I can hear the waves thrashing against the sand, the gale whipping them into a wild frenzy of white horses, their manes of foam and spray dancing in the wind. Rain pelts my window, like the pebbles a lover might throw to announce their presence, but the storm is no friend of mine and the raindrops are more like bullets than harmless flecks of gravel. They pound harder and harder, until I'm afraid that the glass might smash. I stand at the window neither asleep or awake, but in a state in between, my hand resting lightly on the wooden sill. There is something out there in the dark, something lonely and lost. Something hurting. Something angry. Something that is neither Moryow nor Norvys, but something twisted and betwixt. Even in my dreamlike state I shudder. The wailing of the wind grows louder and louder, as does the roaring of the sea, roaring a warning._

Danger. Danger_._

_I press one hand up against the glass. A flash of lightning burns through the air, illuminating the world outside for one brief moment and I think I see someone else's hand pressing back against mine on the other side of the window._

Saaaaaaphiiiire…

_The voice calls in my head once more, the voice that isn't Moryow._

Saaaaaaphiiiire…

_It coils and hisses around my mind like an angry snake, filled with white hot lightning rage._

_And although I don't know who's out there, what's out there I do know what it wants._

_Revenge._


	23. Authors Note

**A/N: Hello, just a quick notification to say that the first chapter of 'Dangerous Waters' is now up! Sorry for the delay, you will find more information in the authors note of said chapter. I hope you enjoy it! Thank you all so much again!**

**Sapphy**

**xxx**


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